Pan's Innocence
by Blade Liger Knight
Summary: For Pan, things have been pretty normal since Goku left with Shenron almost a year ago, that's until Trunks starts acting strange after having a talk with Gohan. And let's just say another Grand Tour might be more interesting than you think. TP
1. Reminiscing

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

6-10-06-Updated-Authors Note: Well here it is, chapter one, re-written and completely overhauled. Enjoy the ride.

**Chapter One – Reminiscing **

"Do you ever wonder what it was like on the Saiyan planet Trunks?"

"No, I don't. Why? Do you?"

"Well, it _is_ our heritage after all, isn't it normal to wonder about it? And what about you? Aren't you supposed to be the next in line to be Prince? Doesn't that make you curious at all?"

"Actually… I loath the idea of it, I couldn't even handle managing my own company Pan, let alone an entire planet."

"Well I know it doesn't count as much… but I think you could do it if you tried."

The violet haired man chuckled and lifted his eyes to the sky; however, the leaves of a tree above him impaired his view of the blue horizon; it wasn't hard to figure out why though, because he sat on a sturdy branch of the tree with his back against its center. His attire included his usual blue bandana cloaking the neck of his black shirt while his grey shorts stated that summer was steadily approaching.

Pan, surprisingly, donned her red gi instead of her customary red t-shirt and tight blue jeans as she sat parallel to him on the other side of the trunk, mirroring his position. But at the sound of his laughter she turned to look at him in vain; the trunk blocked her vision. "What's so funny?"

"Uh nothing, nothing at all Pan, why do you ask?" he questioned smugly as he cupped his hands behind his head.

"Oh no reason, I just paid you a compliment and you laughed, that's all," she answered in a bit of irritation as she raised her hands and dropped them again.

"You know it sounds to me," he cleared his throat and went on, "like you're the one that wants to be next in line to be heir." He laughed again. "To tell the truth, I think you'd be good at it, 'Princess'."

Pan leaned back into her seat on the branch and scoffed. "What are you talking about Trunks? I'm no princess, I'm a fighter, always have been and I always will be."

"Where have you ever read in history books that a princess couldn't fight? They had to defend themselves too you know," Trunks told her.

Pan rolled her eyes and threw her legs over the branch as she prepared to jump down. "Whatever you say Trunks, but shouldn't we be getting back? I don't want to be late for the reunion."

Trunks moaned; he didn't want to get up yet. "Come on Pan, we've only been here for an hour at most, and besides that, it was your idea to come all the way out here in the first place."

The small Saiyan grinned and barely managed to restrain a giggle as she hovered forward until she could see Trunks clearly, along with the branch he was seated on.

Trunks only glanced at her mischievous features before getting a very serious look on his face. "Pan don't you dare-!"

It was too late; she had already aimed and fired a ki blast at the branch. It exploded into a million pieces and Trunks had jumped off just in time to escape the splinters. He regained his footing and, angry was an understatement, when he glared up at Pan. "Oh you better run now!"

Pan laughed and flew off as fast as she could and Trunks took to the air and gave chase; Pan would get her way again, as she usually did, Trunks noted.

As Trunks drew beside her, Pan was having a hard time discerning his intentions and she thus swerved down into the trees and bush below, not slowing down mind you, she emerged with a brown colored lemur in one arm and a vibrantly colorful parrot on her head.

When Trunks witnessed her predicament he suddenly forgot why he was chasing her and laughed heartedly as she gave him an annoyed scowl.

They were both still flying at high speeds and Pan slowed down in order to rid herself of the stowaways.

Trunks smiled as Pan rejoined him in the air; it was his turn to lead, he decided and went higher until he was above the clouds as Pan followed, and as soon as she passed through the white fluff, she was nearly clocked by a V line of migrating geese.

Her cheeks faded to pink and she growled at the smirking man as he hovered a ways apart from her. As she looked at him, she realized it almost appeared as though he was standing on the clouds. Now if only he had white wings, then she could make a joke out of this.

Pan sparked her energy and burst toward him and continued to accelerate past him as they once again traded off leaders.

She led him through a heavily dense fog of clouds and she decided to rise above them as Trunks had previously done and at this point they were achieving extremely high speeds, thus when they swerved and turned, the clouds just below them would appear to explode and follow in their wake.

Pan looked over her shoulder to watch them as they seemed to resemble frozen waves from the ocean, crashing toward her. She glanced at Trunks and he smiled as his hair and clothes whipped violently from the speed they were accomplishing.

The same thing, Pan was experiencing as her orange bandana threatening to fly away at any moment, and because the wind and clouds flashed by so rapidly, even if either of them tried to say something it would not be heard over the deafening roar of the air passing between them.

Pan didn't care though, she laughed happily, knowing Trunks was there to supervise as she blindly closed her eyes and proceeded to turn over and fly upside-down, now with her back facing the ground, and as she stretched out her arms she started skimming the perfect white clouds under her with her hands.

She smiled at how lucky she was, just being able to soar through the clouds without the help of machines or flying animals, it was something she often took for granted. And she suddenly realized that there were many things she had taken for granted, like for example her Grandpa, whom departed with Shenron less than a year ago. Now she wished she would have spent more time learning from him instead of always mocking him for being a kid, when in reality he was much wiser than her. But not now, no, she had made herself a promise on that fateful day when her grandfather defeated Omega Shenron. She had actually made a few promises, but the one she kept to herself was one that she continued to harbor and yet still accomplished from month to month.

Pan was drawn back to the present by a distant, yet extremely close, voice that had simply been suppressed by the velocity of air flow. It was Trunks and he was flying directly above her now, and not more than three feet apart, Pan noticed. "Wake up Pan, we're here," he shouted sarcastically, since it was obvious she couldn't have been asleep.

The clouds had cleared as she looked around and nodded as she then watched him land near the Capsule Corp. building, waiting for her to do the same.

She slowly descended as she remembered her silent vow, the vow that she would never let her friendship with Trunks be taken for granted, and therefore she made it a point to visit the Briefs's house as often as she could, except sometimes, when she went to visit, Trunks would either be at work or off hanging out with Goten, and even though she was usually invited to go with them, it never really was quite the same as having Trunks all to herself, like today. But on the days Trunks couldn't spend time with her, she could just train with Vegeta in order to keep her fighting abilities sharp; that was something the Saiyan prince admired about her, though he would never out rightly say so.

When Pan landed beside the half blooded Saiyan, he blinked and raised an eyebrow of suspicion, something about the way Pan looked at him made him wonder what she was thinking.

He quickly shrugged the thought off and tucked his hands in his pant's pockets as he led the way into the Capsule Corp. building.

When Trunks disappeared into the house Pan pulled her bandana away and lifted her head to let the spring breeze influence her hair at will; she again looked to the sky.

"There it is," she murmured to herself, about a feeling that she would get every once in awhile, a feeling as though her grandpa, who now seemed to be more of a legend than anything else, was watching her from a very far off place, she scoffed though, that was impossible, he was probably millions of light-years away by now.

She nonetheless smiled at that hopeful wish, that one day he would return, and talk of nothing but food.

Pan turned and crossed the walkway that lead to the front door as she tied back her bandana around her hair. She had almost walked inside when her clumsy uncle, in both word and action, stumbled backwards into her path. "What do you mean get out of the kitchen? I'm starving Trunks, come on don't you have some appetizers or something?" he whined and then glanced to see Pan standing just outside the door.

"Don't give me that Goten, You're_ always_ staving and I'm telling you for the second time, you are _early_ and we can't have you eating everything before the rest of the guests arrive." Trunks told him.

Goten beamed and stepped forward to hug his niece, conveniently ignoring whatever Trunks had to say. "Pan-chan! What are you doing standing outside? Come give you're uncle a hug."

"Well because it's a nice day," she answered and pushed him back from his hug. "And since when did you become so concerned about hugging me?"

Goten looked up thoughtfully. "Well, let's see, ever since I needed an excuse to change the subject, and speaking of changing the subject, do you think you could talk Trunks into feeding me? I think he's mad at me for some reason, I just can't figure out why."

"Goten!" Trunks shouted and appeared in the doorway as he pointed down a hall, apparently toward the kitchen. "Clean up that mess before my mom sees it!"

Pan crossed her arms and Goten cringed, getting his answer. "Oh, that."

About-facing, Goten crossed his arms in a puffed up manner. "Ok, whose gonna make me?"

Trunks scowled and he was about to retort when someone else did it for him, sort of. "Trunks! Get out here Son," Vegeta rumbled and Pan looked to see him standing against the building; he wasn't there a second ago, she thought.

At the sound of Vegeta's voice, Goten yelped and scrambled into the kitchen to clean up the mess he made, previously.

A chuckle could be heard from Trunks after seeing how utterly _brave_ Goten could be under pressure. He rolled his eyes when his father repeated himself, only louder this time. As he passed Pan he motioned his head, dismissing her to go in the house.

Pan watched for a few more seconds as Trunks approached his father and stood next to him, and it was only until Trunks gave her an odd look that she finally moved into the house.

As she stepped through the front door, it opened out into a living room and Pan had only walked a few steps passed the hallway that led to the kitchen, where Goten had disappeared to only seconds ago. She shook her head, puzzled. _"What's wrong with you Pan? Just standing there like an idiot," _she thought when she suddenly came upon a pair of shoes and realized her eyes had been focused on the floor. "Wha?"

When she looked up she was abruptly pulled into a hug. "Pan-chan! It's so good to see you!" The blue haired teenager quickly pulled away from the friendly gesture and demanded eye contact as she continued, "why haven't you visited us lately, it's been more than a month hasn't it?"

Pan smiled. "Hi Bra, Oh you know, school and tests and studies…and school. Did I mention school is a pain?"

With a nod and a grin Bra wrapped an arm around Pan's neck and led her to a couch that was located in the middle of the living room. They both sat down and Bra gave her head a tilt while her eyes showed concern. "Are you sure that's the _only_ reason you haven't come over recently? School has never stopped you before. Come on Pan tell me what's wrong."

Pan sighed and was about to answer when Goten decided to make his second appearance. "Well that's done, hey there ladies, what's happened while I was gone?"

He stood, oblivious, and leaning behind the couch in-between the two girls, while Pan's eyebrows creased as she sent her uncle an annoyed stare coupled with a slight growl and Bra simply smirked. "Nothing Goten, Pan was just about to explain why she's been avoiding us for the past month, that's all," the Bulma clone told him.

"I haven't been avoiding anyone, it's just…" Pan started but clenched her teeth and looked away. "It's embarrassing to talk about," she muttered.

Goten laughed. "Come on Pan-chan, embarrassment holds no bars with me, you know that."

Pan sighed again and looked again to Bra, who now seemed relaxed and yet expectant at the same time. "I'll be right back," Pan said and made her way to the closest restroom.

Bra and Goten exchanged confused glances and then both shrugged.

---

"I noticed it the last time she was here, but I couldn't put my finger on it, now I'm certain of it," Vegeta said.

Trunks stroked his forehead, trying to discern everything his father had just told him. "So you're telling me, something about Pan has changed, and now you think she's about to transcend into the next level?"

Vegeta nodded. "Her power has been developing very slowly, but I think she's ready to advance…" he said and smirked. "She just needs a push."

Trunks stared at his father, bewildered by the sudden mix of information. "What do you mean, 'a push'?"

"You'll know when the time comes," said the Saiyan Prince as he turned and waved his hand, which meant: 'You're dismissed,' and made his way to another part of the building.

Trunks looked on in suspicion at his father's departing form for seconds afterward and then he finally sounded a grunt of dissatisfaction and started for the door.

---

When Pan had come out of the bathroom, nothing about her appeared different at first. However, unbeknownst to Bra and Goten her gi had been slit in the back, the reason for this soon became apparent as a furry brown tail slithered out of the hole in her gi and waved to and fro, outwardly stating its existence.

Both of the half blooded Saiyans were speechless as they looked at each other with matching shocked expressions.

Pan sat down on the floor cross legged, with her chin supported by her hand as her tail twitched back and forth; she didn't feel the need to say anything at this point, and after all, her tail was pretty self explanatory.

When Trunks entered the room, everything was silent; this was extremely odd, since neither Pan nor Goten were known for their silence. "Huh, am I missing something here you guys?" he asked as he approached warily.

He looked at all three of them one at a time and Pan was the last one Trunks laid his eyes on, and for at least a good ten seconds he just stared, for he wasn't sure it was real until it moved, then he fell over in shock. "What in the world? Pan, how did- No, when did- Ok what's going on?" he shouted, now looking at the other two.

Bra and Goten both shrugged, neither of them had said a thing until now, "Pan grew her tail… cool huh?" Goten said, pointing a finger at Pan.

Trunks was still in shock as he looked from Goten to Pan, was this what his father meant? Was her tail the link to her new power?

Pan growled. "There's nothing _cool_ about it Goten."

Bra suddenly let out a small laugh. "So why not have it removed Pan?

"No way!" Pan barked. "I might not like it, but it's a part of me now, and I wouldn't feel right just getting rid of it like that, even if it _does _get caught in the door sometimes." She flinched at the thought and held her tail, protectively, with one hand.

Bra frowned, but soon perked up when she thought of a way to make Pan happy. "Come on Pan, I know just the thing for you," she said as she drug Pan by the arm and down the hallway that led to the kitchen.

Goten and Trunks followed slowly behind, still feeling a little bewildered from the situation. "Wow, who'd of thought, little Panny growing a tail, some shock huh?" Goten asked and walked with his hands behind his head while Trunks stared at the floor, contemplating.

"Huh? What?" Trunks asked, seeming sidetracked.

"Hello? The tail, duh we were just talking about it," Goten told him.

"Oh right. Um say, Goten. Do you think it makes a difference whether you have a tail or not, in order to turn super Saiyan?" Trunks questioned.

Goten looked at him, a little dumbfounded by the question. "Gee I dunno Trunks, we didn't have tails and we were super Saiyans a long time ago. I bet it's probably different for each person… Why?"

"Well my dad, he said something about Pan, and now she has a tail, I was just wondering-"

"Wait, if you mean what I think you mean, then that means-!" Trunks nodded soberly and Goten gaped after he stopped mid sentence.

"My dad said she needs 'a push', whatever that means," Trunks replied.

Goten suddenly got a mischievous look on his face as he rubbed his hands together.

Trunks came to a halt when he noticed Goten had ceased walking and started to chuckle. "Goten, what are you-?"

"Ok, listen up Trunks, here's how it's gonna go down…"

---

In the kitchen, Pan and Bra hadn't stopped to wait for the other two. Pan waited patiently at the table while Bra searched the fridge for something she knew Pan would want.

As Trunks and Goten made their way into the kitchen they pushed each other playfully, had they used any more force they would have been slamming each other through the walls.

"What's with you guys anyway?" Pan asked and turned around in her chair.

"Nothing Pan, we're just rough housing," Goten answered as he stood next to Pan's chair and nodded to Trunks, who now stood on the other side.

Trunks winked back, confirming the prank they thought up on the way in. "So Pan, what's my sister going to poison you with today?"

"Uh I dunno, she hasn't said- wait, did you say _poison_?" Pan's tail shot erect as she prepared to stand.

Goten and Trunks grinned as they both grabbed Pan's tail, making her yelp and slam her fists on the table, tipping it and thrusting it across the kitchen and into the next room.

Everyone cringed at the loud crash that erupted from the table's impact. "Oops," Goten and Trunks said in unison.

Pan grit her teeth as the pain emitting from her tail held her paralyzed as she struggled to stand up, but only managed to open one eye

"Trunks! Let go already!" Bra shouted at him.

Trunks gulped as he noticed Goten had already released his grip. "I'm afraid to Sis."

"Well you should be! Look, she can't even move, the poor thing, she looks like she's about to collapse!" Bra argued.

"Yeah, come on Man, you know the longer you prolong it, the longer your suffering will be. It's ok, just drop it and run you can get away… I think," Goten teased between a snicker.

"Trunks!" Vegeta bellowed from the room with the newly remodeled kitchen table.

With that, Trunks released his grip and quickly flew past his enraged father. "Gotta go Dad, I'm about to be maimed!"

"Trunks!" Pan roared after him and took chase. "Goten! I'm coming back for you!" she said before speeding out of the house.

"Yes Ma'am!" Goten saluted mockingly. "I'll be right here… well maybe here… ah you'll find me."

"What the hell is going on in here?" Vegeta questioned as Pan and Trunks were now outside playing air tag… with energy blasts.

"Um, well Dad…" Bra scratched the back of her head, dumbfounded. "Pan um, she, er then he-"

"Spit it out!" Vegeta barked.

"Well, they pulled Pan's tail and she couldn't help it."

"What? That still doesn't tell me why the kitchen table is in the living room," the Prince said, a bit calmer now that he knew half of what was going on.

---


	2. At the Brink of Loss

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

Authors Note: This is the only time I plan to post the age chart, so study it carefully. **:P**

Age Chart:

Trunks 28  
Pan 17

If you want to know how I got that, just email me or ask me in a review and I'll reply back with the answer.

**Chapter Two – At the Brink of Loss**

Trunks laughed whole heartedly when he let Pan get within a few inches of him, but soon sped away from her grasp. "Too slow Pan-chan," he teased.

Pan growled with agitation as they both stopped and hovered in the air. "When I get my hands on you Trunks, you'll be sorry!" she shouted while catching her breath.

The half-Saiyan laughed again. "Well come on then Pan, you're never going to catch me at this rate," he stated arrogantly.

Pan's tail twitched and she soon found it hard to hold her position. "Fine, you asked for it!" she shouted and tightened her bandana as she readied herself for battle.

Trunks smirked at her comment and motioned his hand in an attempt to provoke her further.

The female fighter flew at him with extreme speed. "Woah there," Trunks said as he faded to the right, neatly dodging her assault. "You shouldn't take this so seriously Pan," he said as her eyes followed his movements and ruthlessly threw a backhand to his face, following up with a roundhouse kick, sending him to the not-so-friendly ground.

"That's what you get Boy! I thought I taught you never to underestimate your opponent!" Vegeta scolded and stood just outside the house; where Goten and Bra were also observing the fight.

Trunks moaned, knowing he would never hear the end of this from his father. "Ha! I caught you! You lousy tail snatcher!" Pan accused playfully and pinned him to the ground.

"Hey come on Pan, you're not really going to humiliate me in front of my dad are you?"

Pan narrowed her eyes at him but smiled nonetheless. "Well, I can't say you don't deserve it, but-"

She was interrupted when Trunks powered up and knocked her away. "Sorry Pan, but you should know by now not to let your guard down."

Pan growled. "Trunks you cheater!" she denounced and balanced herself.

"If you say so Pan, it seemed like a fair move to me," Trunks stated and took up his stance. "I'm serious this time, so let's do this."

The quarter Saiyan smiled with anticipation, she blinked and Trunks was gone. "Where'd he go?" She quickly turned; nothing. She looked back and Trunks spun and then threw a heavy kick straight to her stomach, launching her far from the city.

Afterwards Trunks flinched. "Oh maybe I over did it with that one…"

Vegeta took this time to approach his son. "Trunks, what are you doing?" he questioned once he was out of hearing range of Goten and Bra; all they could hear was muffled shouting.

Trunks clenched his fists at the sound of his father's disdainful voice. "What Father? I'm doing what you said; I'm giving her a push."

Vegeta's scowl never wavered as he stared at his son. "I didn't tell you to play with her, that's what you're doing, and if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to seduce her instead of train her."

Trunks suddenly sent a shocked yet angered glare to his Saiyan father; a nerve had been struck, and an extremely sensitive nerve at that. "How can you say that? She's one of my best friends; I'm only trying to do what's best for her!"

Vegeta scoffed. "Well you're not going to get her to transform with the way you're pussy footing around," he said and now Pan was on her way back, and fast.

Trunks braced himself for the incoming attack. "If I'm not doing it right, then why don't you take over?"

"Because. You're the only one she will respond to," said the Saiyan prince before Pan slammed Trunks into one of the many Capsule Corp. buildings.

"_Fine, if it's up to me alone then it's time to turn it up a notch,"_ Trunks decided as he recovered and stood.

"Sorry about that Vegeta-sensei," Pan said and stood where Trunks had been previously.

Vegeta scoffed. "Trunks was the one that crashed," he said calmly and quickly looked in Trunks' direction; his power level had increased dramatically.

Pan smiled at his statement, but didn't notice the warning. She merely got to glance up when Trunks uttered a battle cry and kneed her in the stomach and caught her by the throat, pinning her to the ground by one hand. "Say uncle now and I might let you up before you faint."

Pan sounded a grunt as she thought on his offer. "Why? I've yet to beat him up," she rasped and powered up in an attempt to get free, but Trunks did the same and suppressed her energy easily.

"Come on Pan, give up. You know I don't like to see you suffer," said Trunks as Pan continued to struggle, but found it harder to focus her vision as she was slowly losing consciousness.

"Never! I don't give up," she exclaimed weakly.

Trunks glanced to Vegeta. _"Am I doing this right Father?"_ he thought bitterly; this was far too primitive in his mind, there had to be a better way to train her.

To his surprise, however, Vegeta nodded toward Pan's hair which was slowly starting to change color. "Pan?" Trunks asked and looked back at her pupils; they held no color. "You're doing it! Keep a hold Pan, don't let go!" he coached and released his grip.

"No Trunks! She doesn't know how to control it yet!" Vegeta warned but was too late, Pan's power exploded and sent Trunks hurtling past Goten and straight through the house, landing him conveniently in one of Bulma's labs. "Trunks!" Both Goten and Bra shouted and followed to help.

Pan stood up among the smoke and dirt, breathing heavy but prepared to fight. "Wha- what happened?" She looked to Vegeta for answers.

He approached her. "Don't you know?"

Pan's aqua orbs were lost and confused; the last thing she remembered was struggling under Trunks' strangle hold.

The Saiyan prince quickly removed her bandana and pulled her hair in front of her eyes, so she could see her newest accomplishment. "Is that…Am I-?" Pan asked, half her question unsaid as she stared at the blonde hair in disbelief.

Vegeta nodded and Pan looked around. "Wait, where is Trunks?" she wanted to know.

"He's probably unconscious after what you did to him," Vegeta answered and started his way to the house, which was currently being remodeled by the looks of it.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything, well not that I remember anyway…" She caught up with him and was still waiting for an answer.

Vegeta glanced down at her with one eye. "You haven't harnessed your power yet," was his only reply.

Pan frowned; that was the cold hard truth then? She could live with that.

She was staring at the floor when they came to the lab's entrance. Goten and Bra were both kneeling at Trunks' side; he was sitting up, but looked like he had a severely painful headache because he held the back of his head with one hand. "Trunks, are you ok?" Pan asked as she came near to the three, unknowingly powering down while her hair faded to black again.

"Hey Pan," Trunks replied weakly. "You know, you can really give a guy a headache when you want to."

Pan smiled and stared at him sadly. "Well I have bad news for you then, I didn't _want_ to do that, so I'm not sure what would happen if I really meant it," she jeered.

Trunks chuckled a bit. "Well Goten, it looks like we got our work cut out for us; Pan's apt to surpassing us," Trunks said as Goten helped him to his feet.

Goten was about to reply when Bra commanded everyone's attention. "Excuse me, but I think that's enough action for one day, how about we go find something to eat and watch a movie before all the other guests arrive?" she suggested.

The other three looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "I call first dibs on the popcorn!" Goten announced and led the way with Bra following, while Pan and Trunks trailed behind.

Trunks was feeling a bit better now and was able to walk without Pan's help. "Great job back there Pan, I'm real proud of you," he said. "Besides, you did what Bra can't and she has more Saiyan blood than you."

Pan looked at him thoughtfully before glancing to Bra. "Yeah but Bra doesn't train at all, she could be a super Saiyan if she wanted to."

Trunks nodded as they came to the living room again. "True."

Goten immediately rushed off toward the kitchen, this time with permission to raid the fridge.

As Bra searched for a movie Trunks took a seat on the couch. "Hey Bra what are we watching? Can we watch something with a lot of violence and blood?" Pan wondered excitedly, making Bra and Trunks stare at her in shock. "What?" Pan asked, oblivious.

"Ahem, well hey I don't have a problem with it," said Trunks as he reclined more in his seat.

"What? No way, Trunks come on! You're the adult here, you should act like one!" Bra shouted.

"Alright, as the adult present, I say let her pick out the movie she wants," Trunks said, hands behind his head proudly as Goten returned with his arms overwhelmed and full of snacks and junk food.

With a sigh of defeat Bra gave up and went to on the couch. "Pick what you want Pan." She pointed at the huge shelf on the wall, filled with movies.

Pan grinned evilly at the shelf as she rubbed her hands together. "Oh yeah, R rated movies here I come."  
---


	3. The Talk

**DragonBall-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Three – The Talk**

"So Pan, what are we watching?" Bra asked curiously as Pan plugged the cd in and tossed the case in Bra's direction.

"What the- Pan you don't really plan to watch this do you?" Bra screamed and Goten nearly fell off the couch from fright.

"You got it," Pan said calmly and flopped to the floor with the remote in hand. "Now sit down, you said I could pick any movie, so I did."

Goten leaned over to see what Bra was getting so worked up about, and when he seen what it was he chuckled. "It isn't so bad is it Trunks? I mean I went to see it but I can't really remember much because my date-" Goten paused mid sentence when he noticed that Trunks was shaking his head and the two girls were staring intently at him. "Well we uh… we had to leave because… oh look it's starting!" he rambled in a panic as he took his seat between Trunks and Bra who were sitting on either side of the couch.

"Pan, are you sure about this? I mean I don't handle bloody movies very well…" Bra said nervously and grabbed a couch pillow to hug.

"That's too bad Bra, I want to see this one, besides," Pan smirked mischievously. "Goten is here," she stated and was implying something, causing Goten to grin and nod dumbly.

Bra glared at the both of them. "That doesn't help very much," she mumbled into her pillow.

They were part way through the movie, and everyone believed Bra's warning a hundred percent, especially Pan, because that's when all chaos broke out. Pan, for some reason, was seated on the floor below Bra and after seeing some guy's guts fly the future Saiyan princess found she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Pan wasn't all too happy at that point, not with the half-Saiyan's lunch plastered all over her shoulder. So they had to take a one hour intermission from the movie, since Pan demanded a shower and a change of clothes.

After the little interruption, Bra made sure she had a barf bowl handy and Pan made sure she stayed as far away from her as possible, but Trunks wasn't giving up his end seat so she was stuck between him and Goten.

The movie started up again and Goten patted Bra's back in an attempt to comfort her. "Hey it's ok Bra, you know none of that is real right?"

"But what about the part where the guy holds up the other guy's head? It wasn't attached to his body!" Bra argued.

Goten hesitated in answering. "Well huh… I'm sure that was fake too!" he said and looked to Pan and Trunks for backup; both just snickered, trying their hardest not to break out laughing. "Well you guys are a lot of help," he muttered.

"Goten's right Bra, it's ok, that was a bad guy," Pan managed between her slight giggling.

"That doesn't make it ok Pan!" Bra retorted and threw the pillow at her, which was dodged by Goten and then blocked by Pan.

"I don't think that was a bad guy Pan," Trunks told her quietly while Goten whined about nearly being the victim of a flying pillow.

"He wasn't? Oh well then I'm confused," the small Saiyan mumbled and crossed her arms as she tried to focus hard on the plot.

Vegeta was now standing outside, enjoying the silence. _"Those kids sure know how to make a racket,"_ he glanced at the broken wall, _"know how to make a mess too. I wonder how long I'll have to hear Bulma shouting about this," _the prince thought for a moment but shrugged. "I suppose I better check on them, make sure they're not relocating something else."

He entered the room unnoticed to see Pan push Goten playfully after he said something stupid, making him nudge Bra slightly, who was in no mood to be disturbed, as she proved it by pushing him back in irritation. The poor Goku clone was then sent back into Pan, which made the popcorn she was holding fly everywhere, but mostly on Trunks as he shouted and stood up. "Oops, sorry Trunks, it wasn't my fault!" Pan proclaimed and scooted closer to her uncle.

"The popcorn!" Goten yelped with fake tears in his eyes.

Vegeta smirked, knowing this was about to get 'rowdy' and swiftly made his exit.

"Pan, I'll give you five seconds head start," Trunks said while his hair shaded his eyes.

Pan looked to Goten in confusion. _"What is he serious?"_ she wondered.

It was impossible to tell whether or not he was really mad or just kidding. Goten shrugged. "I'd run if I was you."

The tiny Saiyan was seriously thinking about it when a new voice was heard in the doorway. "Hey kids, the guests are arriving," said Bulma.

"Oh good! That means we don't have to watch any more of this!" Bra proclaimed happily switched it off.

Pan moaned, forgetting about the, so thought, enraged Trunks to her left.

"I'll get you back for that Pan," he told her and stood, facing her with an almost playful glare, but it was hard to tell from Pan's prospective.

"Aw Come on Trunks, can't you just call it even after the little tail grabbing incident?" Pan asked, staring up at him with pleading eyes.

"Sorry Pan you have this coming, but it can wait until later, I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of your parents," said the violet haired Saiyan as he directed her attention to the doorway where her parents now stood.

"Wha? Oh hey Mama, Papa, what took you?" Pan questioned and jumped over the couch and to the newcomers.

"Hey Pan, are you having a good time?" her mother asked.

The teen nodded her head. "You have no idea, and Dad you'll never guess what happened!"

"What is it Pan?" Gohan knelt, showing she had his full attention.

Pan closed her eyes in concentration, and before long she had transformed for the second time. "I did it by myself!" she shouted as amazed as her parents were.

"Pan… how in the world?" Videl asked in disbelief.

"That's my Pan!" Gohan said and hugged his daughter proudly.

Trunks had much the same expression as he smiled from a distance. "Actually… Trunks helped me," Pan said and pointed at him after Gohan had released her.

"Oh? Well thank you Trunks, she's been waiting for this forever," Gohan said and faced him.

"Uh, yeah no problem, although the headaches she hands out are pretty deadly," Trunks replied and approached the three.

Gohan laughed. "Yeah she's good at that, but I do hope you know that you've adopted her as your pupil now."

"Huh? - I mean what?" Trunks wanted to know with a very confused look on his face.

Gohan laughed again and patted the other half-Saiyan's back. "I was only kidding, but I'm sure Pan would like it if you taught her how to balance her power, I wish I could, but I rarely get away from work lately."

This idea suddenly struck Pan and expounded into a chain reaction of thoughts. But the main one was that she could easily keep her promise to see him every month by training with him. "Yeah, what do you say Trunks?" she asked and looked up to Trunks hopefully.

This caused him to sweat drop and panic a bit. "Uh well I guess I could on the weekends."

"That's great!" shouting happily, Pan jumped forward and gave him a bear hug.

Trunks stood firm as he was nearly tackled. "Sure, no problem Pan," he responded nervously as Gohan was standing right there and Trunks wasn't sure how Gohan felt about this.

"Hey Pan guess whose here?" Bra shouted from down the hall.

"Who?" asked Pan and stepped back, releasing her hold on the older Saiyan.

"You'll just have to come see," Bra said and walked out of view.

"What? Fine I'm coming," Pan said and made her way down the hall.

When Trunks started to follow after her, Gohan stopped him with one hand and shooed Videl with the other.

Videl nodded knowingly and joined Pan and Bra to greet the newcomers.

Trunks noticed Videl's expression before she turned to leave; she seemed to have a small smirk on her face. "Uh, is there something wrong Gohan?" he asked, a bit confused.

"Nope, I was just hoping you could show me to the lunch room, I'm afraid I'll get lost in this place," Gohan answered and grinned. "I'm starved."

Trunks laughed, feeling a lot more relaxed. "Sure I will Gohan, but I just hope your brother left us something to eat, he's already raided the fridge," he said and led the way as Gohan followed, thinking.

"You know Trunks, I was hoping to talk to you about something," the dark haired Saiyan started and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah, what is it Gohan?" Trunks asked as he turned a corner and looked back at him.

"Well, I was wondering if you realized how attached Pan is to you. I know she probably doesn't admit to it, but I think you're her hero," said Gohan as he stopped mid-step in front of the lunch room.

"What? But I though Goku was her hero, I mean Goku is everyone's hero," Trunks replied and stared at Gohan, he was becoming more and more confused as this day went on.

Gohan chuckled at his statement. "Are you kidding? You really don't see it do you?"

Trunks merely continued staring at the older Saiyan, un-amused.

"Ahem, well let me break it down for you a bit then. First of all, you both where bandana's, you both where gloves, and ever since the Grand Tour she is always asking to come over here," Gohan explained with a dumb Son grin as Trunks examined the bandana around his neck and thought hard about the stupid conspiracy with them.

Trunks shook his head. "So anyway, what are you getting at exactly?"

"Nothing really. For her I don't know if it's just puppy love, or the fact that she looks up to you. You'll have to find that out for yourself, but I thought you should at least be aware of the possibility," Gohan explained and began examining the kitchen and the fridge.

"How?"

"Huh?" What?" Gohan said, snapping out of his daze.

"Well gee don't drool all over the floor Gohan, why don't you find something to eat already?" Trunks mocked and made his way in the large room. "How do I find out?" he asked when Gohan finished making a sandwich, and both sat at a table.

"It's simple really; I mean who knows her better than me?" Gohan stated and Trunks nodded for him to continue. "Right well, all you have to do is, test her,"

"Test her?" Trunks didn't like where _this_ was going. What was she, a trap that needed to be sprung first? He was really starting to wonder.

", do something to embarrass her, if she shows no reaction at all to whatever it is you do, then that's all it is, nothing. But if she makes a big fuss about it, then that usually means something...else," Gohan explained before taking a bite from his late lunch.

"Do what? Something else? Gohan, I'm sorry but you're not making much sense here," Trunks said and ran his hands through his hair in irritation.

Gohan laughed out-right. "Don't worry about it Trunks, just think of something creative when it happens. And don't worry about the 'something else' either. You'll know if it happens, or doesn't happen. Trust me, just have fun tormenting her for today," he said and finished his sandwich off, before standing and making his way back to the others.

With a sigh, Trunks stood and followed the other half Saiyan back to the main room. "_'Don't worry', he says. 'If she makes a big fuss then you'll know'. What if she kills me?"_ Trunks was in deep thought when he entered the large room with all the guests. Most everyone there he knew, but there were a few people from his mother's company, or should he say Bra's company now. Ever since he retired, the company had been passed to her. It wasn't something she really appreciated either, but she also didn't like the idea of losing all her credit cards. That was something Vegeta had threatened to 'remove' from her wallet had she not accepted the position. Trunks didn't get away with it though, if he wanted to quit, he either had to get another job, or train like crazy. That choice was fairly easy. There was no job in the world worse than training with his father. Because Vegeta held nothing back when training with Trunks, and Trunks knew this; hence the reason he decided to find another job.

"Hey Trunks! We're about to play some cards. You're dealer," Pan shouted from a table where, she, Bra, Goten, and Marron were situated around.

"_Well it's now or never Trunks, lets see if Gohan was right,"_ he thought as he made his way to the card table.

Pan hovered at his level and placed a poker hat on his head. "So what's wild chief?" she asked and made a fake salute, trying to act serious.

"Well that's a strange question Pan, _you_ are, of course," Trunks replied and swerved the hat backward, with the lip facing his back.

"Haha, yea-hey wait, what do mean by that Trunks?" Pan wanted to know as the purple haired Saiyan approached the square table.

"Just what I said," Trunks answered and took his seat.

"Oh yeah, that's real mature Trunks, wear the hat like you're suppose to," Bra ordered when Pan sat in her chair and growled at his earlier statement.

"_I should just blast it off,"_ Pan thought and glared at him.

"No way I'm dealer so I call all the shots," Trunks said and started dealing the cards. Now he had two women glaring at him, Pan was seated to the left of him, Goten to the right, with Bra next to him, and Marron next to Pan. So he couldn't really avoid eye contact with either of them, not that he really cared at the moment. "Five card draw, Wild card is-"

"Suicide kings!" Pan demanded with narrowed eyes aimed conveniently at Trunks.

The Breifs' heir scoffed. "Well you know, I probably would have chosen them, but now I think I'll go with one eyed Jacks," he said and finished dealing.

Pan growled again, before looking over her cards. "This is BS! And we are _so_ playing that when this is done,"

Trunks chuckled a bit before looking at his own hand. "Only if you win Pan-chan."

"So does that mean if I win, we can eat dinner soon?" Goten asked, not even bothering to look at his hand yet.

"Give it a rest uncle G. Geez, sometimes I think I'm the only Son that doesn't think about food every other minute," Pan stated and made a face. "Fine, yes, but only if you win," she sighed and agreed after seeing Goten frown.

"Well it doesn't look like that's going to happen Goten, sorry, Full house." Trunks declared and laid out his hand.

Marron, Bra, and Goten all stared in awe.

Pan grinned at the fair hand. "I got your one eyed Jack," she said and threw the wild card on top of his and flashed her remaining cards, revealing all four aces.

Everyone's jaw dropped at the sight of it. Even Krillin's and Yanmcha's, who were watching from a distance, "Pan how in the world did you get five of a kind? That's near impossible to get!" Trunks shouted, now feeling very cheated.

"Hey, how am I supposed to know? You're the one that made Jacks wild," Pan replied as her defense.

"One eyed Jacks," he corrected, "and you would have won without them! Four of a kind beats Full house!" Trunks' voice grew louder as he was becoming more and more enraged by her cockiness.

"So what? I won, so now we play BS!" Pan shouted back.

Bra raised a hand to cover her mouth as she whispered to Goten. "So do they always fight like this?"

"How am I supposed to know? I was about to ask you the same thing," he whispered back.

Marron was just a confused person across the table, still trying to figure out why they would give a card the name: 'Suicide king'. (Meaning she has one)

Getting back to the arguing ones. "No, _this_ is BS you cheated! There's no way in HFIL you could have got that!"

This caught Gohan's attention, as he noticed Trunks was the one getting worked up, instead of Pan. He walked over into Trunks' vision and did the hand to throat cutting motion.

"Oh, so now you're calling me a cheater? Ok that's it! We're taking this outside!" Pan shouted and slammed her hands on the table as Trunks caught sight of her father and got the message to turn it down a notch.

With a deep breath to calm himself, Trunks nodded and kindly told Pan to sit before dealing all the cards out.

Pan didn't know if she liked how that turned out as she pouted in her chair while the cards were dealt.

Goten and Bra sat with their hands in their laps as they both just stared in bewilderment at the scene before them. Pan was acting very childish in Bra's mind, but at this point, she didn't feel very comfortable telling her that.

Marron was just as confused, but didn't seem to care as she started sorting her cards.

"Start us off with Aces, Pan," Trunks ordered, now in a calm voice.

Pan mumbled something under her breath, before picking three cards from her large hand, and throwing them down as three aces.

No one said anything, as they were all were too afraid at the moment, aside from Trunks, who simply just didn't call it. "Um, five 2's." Marron stated throwing five cards face down.

Goten nearly jumped on the small pile. "Five?"

"Goten, it's two decks," Trunks told him.

"Oh. I wondered why I had seven kings," he replied and didn't really understand the strange looks he was getting. "What?" Goten asked when Trunks slapped his forehead in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well this game is screwed," Trunks stated and leaned back in his chair.

"What's the big deal? It's just kings, besides, maybe he's bluffing...in a very strange way," Pan replied with a raised eyebrow after hearing what she just said didn't make much sense.

"Dinner is ready!" Bulma announced from the living room's entrance to the lunch room.

"I'm gone!" Goten said and raced off toward the food.

"Well Pan, it looks like I win by default," Trunks declared and stood with his hands behind his head.

"What? Where do you get that idea?" was her reply as she was getting very annoyed, _very_ quickly.

"Well I'm the oldest, and tallest, so that's _two_ points down for you," Trunks answered and slowly followed Goten's trail, as he was already in the other room stuffing his face.

Pan growled for the third time as she caught up with him, with Bra and Marron trailing behind them.

The dining room was loud, very loud, as everyone began taking their seats at the many tables.  
---


	4. Couchin

**DragonBall-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Four - Couchin**

After dinner had finished, the small group of 'younger' people were located in the same entertainment room that they were in earlier. Pan, Trunks, Goten, and Marron were all sitting on the floor as they played video games and Bra merely observed from the couch.

Pan growled angrily and punched her uncle in the shoulder. "Goten! How do you keep wining? I demand that you change cars!"

Goten laughed but quickly frowned as he rubbed his shoulder. "But Pan-chan, why should I? When I'm already beating all three of you so badly?"

Pan growled at him again as she felt a mighty fury welling up inside her and she was contemplating on tackling him and beating that big dumb smirk off his face for good while her tail was stating all of this by whipping madly.

Goten was indeed grinning but when he glanced at Trunks, who was on the other side of Pan, and while she was distracted Trunks acted out a little scene with his hands. First he pointed to Pan and then he made a fist and smashed it into the other one and after that he pointed to Goten; he got the point and nodded. "Ok Pan-chan, you can have the Viper, I'll take the Mustang."

Pan curved her eyebrows in disbelief as she stared at him but agreed and the race began. Shortly after Pan had won a few times, it was time for another movie, except this time, it was Bra's turn to pick one. "Ok Pan, it's pay back time," she said, rubbing her hands together evilly, meanwhile Marron had left the room to see what the adults were up to.

Pan sighed and rolled her eyes. "Bra, I'd say you paid me back plenty; _you threw up on me!_" the small quarter Saiyan shouted and started a staring contest with the other female.

Bra waved her hand, shaking the statement off. "That's only because you made me watch it, even after I warned you," she retorted and started the movie.

Pan moaned and made a face. "What did you put in Bra? Whatever it is, I bet it's going to bore me to death," the raven haired teen asked and stood up, about to move to the couch, but first she wanted to know what movie Bra had planned.

"You bet it will Pan. Now we need snacks so I'll be right back." Trunks and Goten also stood as Bra left the room.

"Yes!" Goten celebrated by making a fist with his hands and pulled his elbows back

Trunks ignored his friend and smirked down at Pan, who tipped her head in amazement at how overly excited her uncle could get over food. "Well it looks payback time for me too Pan," he told her matter of factly.

"What?" She turned her attention from Goten to Trunks and then shook her head. "Hey no way Trunks, can't you just forget about it? It was an accident, besides it was just popcorn," Pan replied with narrowed eyes.

He didn't say anything, just stood and stared at her with his arms crossed.

Pan rolled her eyes and moaned in defeat. "Fine, what do I have to do?"

"You don't have to _do_ anything," he said. "Goten, would you do the honors?" Trunks tossed him a camera, before grabbing Pan from behind and using his super speed to land neatly on the couch with her in his lap.

"What? T-Trunks! If you're doing what I think your doing, then either I better stop thinking, or you better stop doing it!" Pan was protesting and struggled to be released, but Trunks was being more stubborn than usual.

"Now Goten! I don't think I can hold on much longer!" Trunks whined as he somehow avoided being clocked in the face.

"Oh, huh right, now how does this thing work again?" Goten teased as he held the camera up, and examined it playfully.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Pan growled as she was becoming more and more enraged when she found Trunks' grip was a lot stronger than she'd ever imagined.

"Just hold still Pan, I'll let you up once your uncle stops goofing around," Trunks said with a grin.

"Fine! Uncle Goten get this over with already!" she shouted and folded her arms in a pouting posture.

"Aww come on Pan-chan, give me a big Son smile," Goten ordered mockingly as he looked through the small lens.

Pan made a face and looked away. "Yeah Pan smile for me," Trunks coached as he watched her scowl become, surprisingly, worse. He frowned when she didn't reply or look at him. "Ok, have it your way, but if you don't want to, then we'll just have to stay this way all night. It's up to you." he said and settled more into the couch.

This caused Pan's face to turn almost as red as her shirt, while Trunks gave an ok with a thumbs up to Goten. "Aww now that was a cute picture," Goten said in an amused voice.

The picture had Trunks holding Pan in his lap and his cheek resting right next her ear, with Pan having the smallest smile and the largest blush on her face.

"That is sooo cute!" squealed Bra, walking in and staring at the picture on the camera's screen.

"Hey I said that already!" Goten shouted with a frown.

"Well too bad, I said it better," Bra retorted and stuck her tongue at him briefly.

"Hey do that again, I dare you," Goten challenged and aimed the camera at her.

"Hey Trunks! Let me up already, you promised," Pan ordered, quite a bit more agitated.

"No, I don't think I will, besides I said I'd let you go once your uncle stopped goofing around. Looks like he still is," Trunks replied, and tightened his grip around her waist.

"What? But he's always that way!" Pan shouted, as she was starting to panic.

"Yeah that's too bad, it looks like you'll have to wait until he's asleep," Trunks added.

"Oh no way, I'm breaking out of this death hold before that happens! Besides, my dad is going to kill you when I tell him about this!" Pan told him with certainty.

Trunks laughed a bit and quickly blocked her left handed attempt to land it in his face. "Oh I don't think so Pan, in fact why don't you ask him?"

"What are you talking abou- Papa! What are you doing just standing there?" Pan wanted to know, as Gohan stood in the doorway with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh, give the arrogant act a rest Pan. You two look so cute, in fact you know what? I think I'll let you spend the night," Gohan stated and crossed his arms, making it seem more like a command then an option.

"_Cute_, why does everyone keep saying that?" Pan mumbled as the rest of his sentence finally sank in. "What? You're not leaving are you?" She was really starting to panic at this point.

Gohan closed his eyes and grinned. "Yep, everyone is leaving; it's already 9:00pm. Yo Goten make sure they keep it PG." With that said the half-Saiyan made a fake gun with his hand and pretended to shoot his younger brother before taking his leave down the hall.

"Yeah I got this chaperone thing down pat, don't worry bout a thing Bro!" The younger half-Saiyan cringed when he seen Pan give him the deadliest glare.

"_You are so dead when I get out of this,"_ the enraged teen thought as she continued to give him the stare.

"Hey Bra, start the movie already," Trunks said and shifted Pan's weight a bit, making himself more comfortable and getting yet another scowl from the girl.

"Oh right, I nearly forgot." Bra did as told, pushing a button on the remote and then left briefly to get some sofa capsules, since there wasn't any room on the couch anymore.

"What? Aw man I was hoping to leave before that, and come on Trunks you can't really be serious about this, what happens when I have to go to the bathroom?" Pan grit her teeth and continued to oppose this ordeal.

"Stop complaining already Pan, and we'll cross that bridge when we get there," Trunks told her and nuzzled her hair a bit.

Marron walked in, staring blankly at the two, and would have broke out laughing but, "Don't you say a word," Pan ordered with a disgusted and hopeless look. "Why are you still here anyway, weren't you lucky enough to escape this place yet?" she added and gave up the impossible cause of getting away, as she laid her head back on the body she was resting on, and began watching the movie.

The blonde couldn't control the slight giggling that escaped her lips when Bra returned with the instant recliners. "Well I decided to stay when I heard what movie Bra chose," she managed to reply without laughing when she and Bra took their seats in their respective chairs.

"Blech, now I _know_ it's going to be boring," Pan mumbled, and for the first time in the past few minutes, she spoke calmly as she was becoming more accustomed to her awkward position.

"You know Pan, I was planning on having a girls sleep over in my room tonight, but it looks like your sleeping arrangements are already settled," Bra stated and lifted a hand to cover the amused smirk on her face, similar to the one Marron was hosting.

Pan was about to reply when Trunks was the first to say something back, "So Bra, how would you like it if I told Dad how you skipped out on that business meeting last week?" giving her the, 'that's enough', look and making her sweat drop as she quickly return her attention back to the movie, all seriousness lay across her features.

Pan wasn't sure what just happened, but shrugged it off and gagged at how sappy, and _non-violent_, the movie was, as a result she and Trunks soon found it painfully boring and both were asleep within the first half an hour. Goten would have done the same, but the only thing keeping him awake was the seemingly endless bags of snacks in his lap.

He yawned and glanced to see why the two movie critics had been so quiet. He beamed at the blissful sleepers on the couch. He stood and left to retrieve some blankets and pillows. "Hey girls, I think it's time to hit the hay, half of us are already out," Goten whispered and motioned his hand toward the couch.

Both Bra and Marron grinned and agreed quietly before turning everything off as Goten found the necessary items from a closet, located on the other side of the room.

Marron was about to take the camera from a nearby table when Bra quietly hissed her name, "I wouldn't do that, Pan would probably never shut up if we took another picture, then none of us would get any sleep," the blue haired teen explained and Marron nodded, following her toward the stairs.

"Good night you two," Goten said and curled up in his sleeping bag.

"Night Goten," they both replied and started their way up to Bra's room. "Oh and try to keep from snoring, you wouldn't want to wake up the happy couple," Bra said with a wink.

"Ok, I'll try." He laughed.  
---


	5. Nightmares and too many Capsules

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Five – Nightmares and too many Capsules**

_A dark realm void of movement and sound. In the middle of that darkness Pan stood scouting the area for any signs of life._

_The darkness around her melted away, where there was once pitch black darkness, now there was trees and more suddenly started erupting from the ground, or at least the darkness beneath her that she assumed was ground. She flinched and jumped back, landing on her butt; she looked over her shoulder and saw more trees emerge, threatening to enclose around her._

_She screamed and covered her head cowardly, for fear one would strike her any second. She quivered in silence. The trees were still there, but had ceased their mutiny on the blackened ground._

_Pan lifted her arms, and simply breathed while she unblinkingly watched the harmless bark centered on her. She stood slowly, and warily, frightened that her movements would somehow trigger yet another change in the world around her._

_She was right, for when she looked up; she was met with two very eerie eyes. Eyes that were getting bigger and bigger by the second, while the body they must have been attached to, started taking shape. It was not small, that fact was obvious as it approached steadily._

_Pan took as many steps backward that she could, when a tree blocked her path to retreat any further. She looked back to glare at her roadblock and then it finally hit her that she could just fly. The small Saiyan smirked and would have taken flight, but for some reason she could no longer move her legs, or anything except her head for that matter._ (Cursed dreams and their leg botching!)

_Pan whimpered, looking from her immobile legs to her stalker, who was so close now that she could make out what it was, even through the thick darkness which surrounded her._

_The large beast, as if it wasn't big enough, reared to it's hind legs and roared a monstrous sound, making her gape at it's size and muscle. It now stood six feet taller than her, and Its pelt almost glowed when it changed color rapidly, from emerald, to blazing red, navy blue, and then dark brown, almost black as it nearly cloaked itself with that color amidst the dark background. It continued that cycle of colors as Pan looked on in wonder. "You're not my average grizzly bear are you?"_

_The beast growled its protest and threw one of its paws at the girl. Being paralyzed, Pan could only close her eyes and hope that it was only a drea- a nightmare and that she would wake up before she died. To her dismay, however, she didn't, and the giant bear's paw, everything, seemed to be in slow motion. She could see the claws that the grizzly housed in his massive paw, as they sliced through the air, leaving slowed white streaks to trail after them._

_Along with the slow motion, she felt herself being pulled away from the monster, and his intimidating attempt to slash her. "Pan!" She heard someone call. Looking around as quickly as she could, she searched and pondered whether or not that was in her dream, or someone trying to wake her up. She often wondered if it wasn't both._

_Pan was suddenly jerked backward, out of harms way of the bear's attack as the slow motion ceased and he clumsily tackled a tree. He bellowed an ear piercing roar and her world went blank once again._

"Pan? Pan wake up." Trunks shook, and braced her thrashing form as she shot forward in his lap shouting something in gibberish.

"What is it? What's wrong? I didn't do it!" Goten woke and shouted in a similar posture and tone. He was located only a few feet away in his sleeping bag, and was looking pretty ridiculous being zipped up and sitting erect.

"Pan, are you ok? You were thrashing like crazy in your sleep," Trunks wanted to know as he pointed to her right hand which was holding tight to her bandana.

Pan looked to her hands and removed her gloves, revealing her hands drenched in sweat, as well as her face as she was panting heavily trying to catch her breath. "Ye-" she took a deep breath and swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a nightmare, that's all."

Trunks raised a brow, still a bit skeptical but wrapped both arms around her protectively and looked down to the very drowsy and confused looking Goten. "Lower the red flag Goten, she's ok, go back to sleep."

Goten didn't need to be told twice as his eyelids dropped before his body did at the sound of, 'go back to sleep'; those were magical words to him right now.

Trunks rolled his eyes, _"I'm never hiring him to be a chaperone,"_ the half-Saiyan thought and smiled hopelessly at his friend.

Trunks looked back to Pan to see her glazed eyes staring off in a daze. He leaned back in the sofa again, pulling the girl down with him and getting a, "Hey!" out of her, breaking her away from her trance in the process.

Pan narrowed her eyes and turned to meet his, seemingly, innocent ones. "What?" he asked in a tone that matched his eyes.

"You know what," the smaller Saiyan grumbled, shifting slightly so she could rest comfortably on her back.

Trunks laughed inwardly at her response, closing his eyes, he attempted to sleep again.

Pan, however, had other things on her mind at the moment. She slowly tried to sit up but one of his arms was still acting as a vise around her stomach. She hissed and cursed quietly.

Trunks, now aware of her movements, opened one of his eyes and pulled her back, making her growl and hopelessly stare at the ceiling. She mumbled something he couldn't make out before explaining herself, "Trunks, let me go, I seriously have to go to the bathroom, and you're not helping,"

Trunks slowly and reluctantly released her as he sat up normally on the couch.

Pan dashed to her fighting stance to the side of him. "No tricks?" she asked in disbelief more than an actual question.

The male Saiyan scoffed and shook his head. "Promise," he said crossing his heart which was a little hard to see in the dark. "I'm guessing you know where the restroom is," pointing, he indicated it was straight behind her, next to the staircase that led to Bra's room.

Pan hummed with uncertainty and relaxed out of her stance.

Trunks watched her give him one last look of disbelief, as she then formed small balls of energy in her hands to light the way, and stepped cautiously toward the room, only pausing momentarily to dropping her gloves and bandana on a table before entering.

When she vanished from sight, the half-Saiyan walked over and pulled another sleeping bag, a pillow, and a blanket from the closet.

After relieving herself, Pan searched the bathroom cabinets for a spare toothbrush. She gaped at the container she had just opened. There were so many capsules that she needed an instruction manual to go with them. Sighing, she started to release them one by one.

Outside, Trunks reclined back into the sofa with a blanket of his own and had already laid out Pan's sleeping roll and pillow on the floor, placing it between the couch and Goten, who was now fast asleep.

He glanced up at the room which Pan occupied. He heard some fumbling and swearing on her part as she opened some capsules that were not at _all_ what she wanted. Finally he heard a, "Aha! Found you little suckers!" It echoed quite a bit, making Trunks cringe, thinking that could have woken up his parents. He quickly turned to Goten, but the Goku clone continued to sleep like the dead.

After brushing her teeth, and leaving a complete mess out of the case which housed the many capsules, she slung the door open and mumbled, trudging angrily back to Trunks and Goten. "Lousy capsule, suppose to be more convenient miserable things," she glared at Trunks, who was looking pretty smug with his hands folded acting as a pillow behind his head.

"You know...I could have told you, it was number 23 blue,"

Pan's fists shook as she tried to count to ten in her mind. "I don't want to talk about it." Growling she climbed into her bed roll.

Trunks laughed quietly under his breath. Closing his eyes, he wasn't expecting the surprise attack planned by Pan. "Hey! Easy on the merchandise there Pan," he whined when she landed with both knees on his abs.

"Oh, what's wrong, did I hurt you? Good. Now go to sleep," she told him and wedged herself between him and the back of the couch, pulling a cover over her shoulders.

"Yes Ma'am," Trunks said and smiled warmly as he ran his free hand through her hair which was unbound from her bandana.

---

What was that sound? It was like a constant rumble of some kind, it seemed soothing and it wasn't disturbing at all. Trunks pondered this, as his mind sluggishly began to function and pulled him from sleep and into consciousness.

His arm and entire right body was numb. When he was, for the most part awake, he saw the reason for his discomfort; Pan was laying face and chest first on his right side, and his right arm was hopelessly pinned between her and the couch's backside.

He also noticed that she was the one making that almost silent rumble which had awakened him. This stumped him, how was she doing that? Wasn't she asleep? He glanced upward, to see his mother's face cast downward and aimed at the two of them. It seemed apparent that she had been there for some time, since her arms were supporting her chin. "Well you look happy. Later on you'll have to tell me how this came about, I'm sure it's an interesting tale."

Trunks gave his mother a classic roll of the eyes, as a child would when a parent just kissed them in public. "This is hardly the time, Mother," whispering, he indicated that Pan started to stir.

Bulma chuckled softly. "Well I suppose not...I bet you're wondering about that purring she's able to produce?"

Trunks looked to Pan's sleeping form and then to his mother with a slight nod of his head, urging her to continue.

Bulma smirked and made sure to keep her voice quiet, "Well, as you know, I've done a lot of study on Saiyans and I have found that the females can purr quite beautifully, the males, however...Well let's just say it isn't the most pleasant sound."

At this point, Trunks was rather disturbed by this new information. "So wait, you're saying we're part monkey, _and_ part cat or something?"

"Ape, monkey," Bulma corrected, "when you transform, you turn into large apes with tails, except apes don't have tails; therefore you're neither, and both."

"I know tha-" Trunks growled at his mother's cocky reply, and nearly forgot about Pan's presence. He held his breath as the smaller Saiyan stirred more but still refused to meet the new day.

When it was obvious she wasn't waking up, he breathed in relief. "Mother do you mind? I'm afraid if she wakes up, and you're there, she's going to blow up from embarrassment or something."

Bulma giggled, somewhat tickled at his statement for some reason. "Why don't you try it, I bet you'll be surprised," she suggested with no real intention of leaving.

Trunks sighed, and closed his eyes to concentrate, having no real idea what he was suppose to be doing, or why for that matter, but finally, after only a minute or so, he started purring himself. At first he had it sounding like Pan's soft soothing tone, but after a few seconds it began rising in bass. To put it simply, Pan was just an average house cat, while Trunks was like a tiger or a mountain lion even. Except for some reason with him, it sounded more like a mountain lion with a bad cold; it was scratchy and rough sounding.

_This _was something Pan could absolutely _not_ sleep through, as she abruptly lifted herself with her weary, half asleep arms and into a sitting position on her legs. "Wh- what happened?" she asked groggily.

"Yep, that's what I was talking about," the blue haired woman stated and rubbed one of her ears sorely.

"Nothing Pan..." Trunks coaxed her back and sent an annoyed scowl towards his mother. "Just an experiment..."

"Oh." Pan grabbed her blanket and pulled it over her head while returning to her former position between Trunks and the couch, mumbling something about, it being too early for experiments.

"See? She didn't even notice I was here," Bulma pointed out as a counter to one of her son's earlier statements.

"Mother please, just go away," Trunks ordered and spoke through his teeth, both trying to sound serious, but calm at the same time.

Shrugging his statement off, Bulma started to make her way out of the room, but not before getting the last word in, "you know, she's plenty old enough, after all, people used to marry as young as thirteen," the last part of her sentence seemed to trail off but she knew she got her point across.

Trunks _would_ have replied to that, but he could tell his mother was already out of hearing range.

He lay there for awhile, bored out of his mind, but he waited and listened patiently to Pan's murmurs of contentment which was her purring again.

This gave Trunks the time he needed to think about yesterday _and_ Gohan's 'advice', if you wanted to call it that.

Gohan's words did, however, open the younger half-Saiyan's eyes to the unknown, the unknown being his and Pan's relationship. That was something that was always rather vague with her. Pan was always a bit edgy, so it made it hard to read her temperaments and feelings toward anyone, even throughout the year they were stuck together with Goku in that ship in search for the dragonballs, which bad luck seemed to follow them everywhere in.

A joke here and there, alien folk mistaking them for a married couple, and that one time even mistaking Goku as the luggage, boy it took forever to get that elderly boy to shut up about it too. Now Trunks wondered if she ever took any of those times to heart, or if in some way, was hurt by his response toward the joke or misunderstanding. He shook his head out of that thought, there was no way Pan thought more of him then a best friend, at least not back then, but when exactly did that change? And how did Gohan notice when it was so easy to overlook? _"Gah!_ _Darn these parents and their meddling!"_ Trunks was finding this free time to think, very disturbing, and a huge hindrance to his attempt of going back to sleep.

The Saiyan strayed from his thoughts when a pause in Pan's soft humming averted his attention; she mumbled something and squirmed somewhat in her sleep. He shook his head slightly in amazement at how she could continue to sleep like that, even _after_ Bulma's rude, unwanted, nosy visit.

Brooding over what else he could think of about his mother, he lifting his left hand that revealed a watch reading 8:58am. _"Well if she plans to start training with me, I imagine it's best we just start today,"_ he thought and, quickly grabbing her pillow off the floor, Trunks smoothly, and gently slipped out from underneath her as he placed the pillow under her head. She still didn't wake up, only muttering something about it being Sunday. He raised an eyebrow wondering how she knew what day it was and still being half asleep.

As the smaller Saiyan turned over, now with her back to him, Trunks made his exit. Destination? The kitchen, where he assumed Goten had disappeared to even before Trunks woke up himself. _"I bet that's where he is, always got food on the brain, that one."_ He scoffed_ "Some chaperone he turned out to be."  
_---


	6. Training and a Shenron bet

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Six – Training and a Shenron bet**

Pan growled and moaned her annoyance at the light which escaped the one and only window in the room. Opening her eyes, she rolled to search with her blurry vision to find the unwanted wake up call, growling again she lurched to the edge of the sofa, soon finding that she had absolutely no motor skills this morning to speak of. She slid off and dropped from the couch making a load thud sound on the floor. Mumbling about the couch moving out from under her, she staggered to her feet.

She made her way into the kitchen, seeing that everyone else in the house had already congregated there. Bulma was at the far most of the, now relocated, kitchen table at it's head, with Bra to the right side of her mother, and Marron beside Bra, leaving the other head of table free for Pan. Trunks was seated next to the free chair, across from Marron, leaving Goten to sit next to Trunks. She quickly noted Vegeta in the background in his usual pose leaning against a wall. It also seemed that he was the first one to notice Pan's presence as he glanced at her momentarily and tipped his head slightly in a nod, showing his acknowledgment, but nothing more, as he calmly closed his eyes back into meditation.

Somewhere in the midst of Trunks and Goten's chatting, Goten elbowed Trunks in the ribs and gestured his head in Pan's direction. "Are you seri--Oh morning Pan, did you sleep ok?" asked Trunks.

Finally, Pan stepped out of the doorway. "Sort of, and it's not a _good_ morning until _I_ say it is,"

"Sort of?" Trunks asked with a frown, feeling a bit wounded by her answer.

When Pan stood by the open chair, she took a quick, wary glance around the table. "Yeah, with the nightmare and all...And just what are you two finding so painfully funny this morning?" she was referring to Bra and Marron who, at the moment, couldn't seem to control their erratic giggling, which only seemed to be encouraged by Bulma as she joined in.

Trunks turned from Pan, to the other females at the table, equally curious about their humor. While Goten just shrugged and stood to get seconds of whatever it was he was eating.

"Nothing really Pan, it's just that, you're so easy to pick on, that's all," Bra answered with a face that seemed, could break out in laughter any second.

Pan growled and took her seat hastily. "If this is about those stupid capsules in the bathroom, I don't want to hear about it. Why can't you just put little labels on them instead of numbers? It took me forever to find a toothbrush!"

Vegeta sounded a grunted scoff from the other end of the room, making it incredibly hard to tell if he was agreeing with her statement, or just simply laughing at her.

Trunks jerked a thumb at Pan and grinned at his mother, "Hey Mom it looks like we finally found you a rival, you should hire her right now." Trunks and Goten snickered while Bulma tilted her head, a bit insulted.

"What are you talking about Pan? Don't you use capsules?" asked the blue haired woman.

Pan stared downward at her hands, feeling all eyes on her. "Well yeah of course we do, but Mom has them all organized."

Trunks looked from Pan back across the table and to his mother again. "You know mom, she has a point. I think it would be a good idea to start putting labels on them. I bet they'd sell like crazy."

For some reason this caused Goten to laugh randomly. "Yeah, one time I was on a date and I threw one of my capsules hoping for my new sports car and what do I get? My Mom's old compact! Can you believe that? And what does my date do? She left! She just left! Isn't that shocking?"

By this time everyone but Vegeta was staring at Goten with at least one hand supporting their chin, gawking at him while he made a fool of himself.

Bulma laughed a tiny bit and pried her eyes away from the dark haired half-Saiyan. "Riiight, well then, I will think about it, but I still don't understand why everyone can't just memorize the numbers..." she murmured wondering why people had to simplify things so much.

Trunks did the same as his mother, prying his stupefied gaze from Goten, to look at Pan once more. "So Pan, are you all set for your second day of training?"

"What? But I haven't even had breakfast yet."

Trunks stood, eyes fixed on her, arms crossed. "Well hurry up. Training starts in five minutes," he ordered, striding out of the room.

Goten finished eating and quickly followed suit. "I think I'll go help him warm up, we can't have Pan-chan beating up her new Sensei again, can we?" He winked at his niece before leaving.

Pan watched her uncle leave and blinked dumbly. "Wow Pan, how exactly did you sucker my brother into actually _training_ with you? I mean, he doesn't even train with Dad anymore..." Bra cringed when Vegeta growled and stomped out of the room.

"Well would you look at that, it seems somebody is jealous," Bulma stated and spun to watch Vegeta's departing form in awe.

"I don't know, I just asked, and he said he would on the weekends, since I have school, and he has work during the week," the small fraction of a Saiyan explained and immediately began eating the pancakes, her uncle had so politely left for her.

Bulma returned her attention to the girls. "That sounds reasonable, but you know Pan...I bet Vegeta would agree with me if we let Trunks take the summer off to train with you. I mean it's not like we're making him work because we need the money," she chuckled. "Vegeta just doesn't want him to get lazy."

Bra nodded. "Yeah, Dad wants more than anything for Trunks to train...Something about, how he's the heir and he needs to act like one." The blue haired teen grinned when she came up with something she thought was brilliant.

Pan swallowed what remained of her breakfast, and then stepped up and away from the table. "Well that would be great but, I doubt Trunks would want to train me for two months strait."

Bra did the same and walked over to Pan, waving her index finger at the dark haired female. "You underestimate yourself Pan, c'mere, c'mere I got the perfect plan for you. Marron you too, I could use a bit more..._imagination_." Marron smirked and did as told; joining in on the small huddle Bra had formed.

Bulma just shook her head in amusement, while activating the clean up robots; they resembled big versions of Giru, most likely the prototypes for Bulma's attempt to copy him.

---

Outside, Vegeta was observing the warm-ups near the main building, while Goten and Trunks began with the simple basics of punches and kicks.

Just when Goten started gaining ground with multiple kicks while Trunks blocked, Pan trotted through the open door and passed Vegeta, with a smug, almost evil grin on her face.

Both half-Saiyans ceased their movements and stared at her, then stood erect and stepped away from each other. "Hey he's all yours Panny, I huh softened him up for you," Goten teased as he strode passed his niece, earning a not-so-friendly punch in the shoulder from her. "Ow!" he whined and rubbed his sore spot while standing near Vegeta, who just gave him a disgusted glance. "What? She's stronger than she looks you know," Goten said as a defense, but the Saiyan prince didn't even bother to look at him again.

"So Pan, how well do you fight with an audience?" Trunks asked when Bra and Marron joined Vegeta and Goten.

"Never mind that, I want to make a bet," she stated and hunched forward after securing her gloves and bandana.

Raising a brow, Trunks answered hesitantly as he took up a similar position, "okay... shoot then,"

The young, one-fourth Saiyan grinned mischievously as she explained, "If I catch and pin you like yesterday, then you do whatever I want, no questions asked."

Trunks' features went from confused to even more confused as he tried his best to make sense of her request. "Wait a second, what kind of bet is that? What do I get out of it if you don't pin me?"

"What do you mean? It's a fine bet, and you don't have to worry about that because I'm going to win anyway," Pan answered sharply.

When Trunks wasn't going for it, their audience grew hopelessly restless. "What are you two doing? Get on with it already!" that was Vegeta's royal order, which sounded more like a vicious dog barking at a passing cat.

Trunks sighed and caved. "Fine if you can pin me, _IF_ you can. Then I'll play Shenron, and I'll even let you have three wishes."

Pan grinned and nodded, taking up her fighting stance.

Trunks scoffed and did the same. "It won't be so easy this time Pan."

"It's not supposed to be," she retorted and sized him up, thereafter charging straight for him.

Trunks caught both of her fists and braced her attack easily. Body to body he smiled wryly at her struggled effort to topple him. "That isn't going to work Panny," he stated simply, while she continued to strain against his seemingly unbreakable defense.

"Argh!" she shouted and jumped back, her breathing already strained. "What's with you? I thought you said you don't train anymore!" Fading to the right, she shot at him with a slightly different approach.

With a grunt, Trunks followed her movements easily and replied as he shifted in a swift spin, dodging her assault, "it's simple Pan, I just have a higher power level than you."

Growling out of her own incompetence, Pan launched herself skyward. Trunks watched her ascend, then followed suit soon after.

"Wow, look at them go, hey you know right about now, they look an awful lot like rockets," observed Goten, as he quickly collected the stares, but he didn't take his eyes off the entertainment.

Bra and Marron looked at each other and both shrugged a, 'whatever' as they returned their eyes sky bound and its mild fireworks, which was Pan's ki as she shot blast after energy blast. Missing every time, but she continued to release the masses of energy, while Trunks almost seemed relaxed as he dodged them, materializing closer to her each time he disappeared in order to evade.

Once Pan decided Trunks was close enough, she quickly executed her next assault, by fading to the side, then above him. Trunks gaped upward, wondering how she managed to deceive him so cleverly, yet the move was so basic, and simple.

Placing all her remaining energy behind her, Pan slammed into him, sending both of them into an intense skydiving tumble to the earth.

A crater now posed as an average sized pool, to decorate the Capsule Corp. front lawn. Vegeta grunted in what seemed to be his version of a laugh. Goten whooped and threw a fist in the air, while Marron and Bra announced their congratulations. "Go Pan, I think you got him!" as soon as Bra said that, Pan was sent spiraling back into the air. Bra frowned. "Never mind."

Trunks emerged from the large hole in the ground that he and Pan had created; his eyes searched the skies warily. Soon enough, he spun to block an energy blast from behind. But no Pan, his eyes went wide. She hid her energy signature! Now it hit him, they never agreed that she couldn't do that, in fact, they never said she couldn't-

Just when he discovered her plan of attack, Pan's energy skyrocketed; she tackled him before he could react. Trunks slid on his back for quite a ways, until a tree braced his slide. He opened his eyes, finding that he had closed them while being pummeled to the ground for the second time. Pan had pinned him like she said she would. Her hair was blond as her hands clenched tight to his shirt at the shoulders. She was determined to _keep_ him down this time as she housed a confident grin.

Trunks formed a sideways smile in spite of his position. "You little cheater."

This caused Pan to open her mouth to speak but also letting her guard down a tiny bit in the process, just enough for Trunks to turn the tables in his favor, therefore sending his energy to his back, then sending both of them into a roll, until Trunks emerged victor. The smaller Saiyan struggled and squirmed under Trunks' rock solid brace. "I did not cheat! Besides you said yourself that your power level was bigger than mine, I had to even the playing field somehow! And let me up already, this wasn't the bet!" she rattled it off so fast, Trunks' head was nearly spinning, he couldn't argue with her, he didn't have the energy at the moment.

"Bah! This is nonsense! I didn't come out here to watch them court each other!" Vegeta barked and disappeared. Goten assumed he'd went back into the house but he wouldn't have bet on it. The prince was far to fast to be tracked.

When Trunks stood and offered her a hand, Pan took it then looked at him, arms crossed. "My first wish is that you train me all summer, starting next month."

Trunks was going to lead the way back to the house but stopped in mid step. "What! But Pan I have to work during the summer."

"Not according to Vegeta you don't, plus your mom agreed to let you do it too." It didn't appear that Pan planned to move from that spot until he agreed.

Trunks sighed tilting his head in exasperation, he nodded. "Ok Pan, I'll train you starting next month then."

"Yes!" Pan exclaimed, throwing one fist in the air. "Now..." she thought. "For my second and third wish, I'm not so sure," snapping her fingers she continued, "I got it! For my second wish, we gotta get you out of those clothes."

"Pan!" Trunks shouted with a mortified look on his face.

She waved her hand. "No, no, that's not what I meant. What I mean is, I want both of us to where matching training gi's, you know, like the one my grandpa always wore."

Trunks had a questionable look. "But Pan, where are we suppose to get any that match?"

"I don't know, let's ask your mom, I heard she designed my dad's crime fighting clothes once,"

By this time their entire audience had disappeared. The half-Saiyan noticed this and grinned wryly at the lesser Saiyan beside him. "So, Pan, what would you say the score is so far?" he asked, rapidly advancing on her, with absolutely no intent of slowing.

"Sco...score? I...think," Pan stuttered and backed up a few steps when she found Trunks quickly taking advantage of her personally space.

"Trunks, I don't like that look," she warned, swallowing hard, and backing more as he continued to step forward.

"I'll give you three seconds," he told her, his eyes fixed squarely on her.

Pan didn't hesitate, taking off; she noted that they had just done this bit, except the other way around. She quickly tossed that thought as Trunks was hot on her tail, another quick glance and he'd transformed. He would have been able to grab her, but Pan transformed with just enough time to dodge.

It wasn't long before Pan was first to collapse from exhaustion. That made her easy prey for Trunks to pin. "I think that's two to one Pan," he stated nearly as breathless as she.

"How do you get that? Who said," she took a breath, "who said I was trying to get away?"

He scoffed. "Pan, I need to talk to you about something...Something important," the purple haired Saiyan said, leaning away and to Pans left, he sat beside her, one arm resting on his knee.

"Ok about what?" she asked, sitting up and supporting herself with her arms braced against the grass, she stared at him curiously.

Trunks fixed his eyes on the patch of grass between them. "Well Gohan talked with me yesterday, and-"

"What? Papa did? Why is that?" Pan wanted to know, suddenly a lot more interested.

"Well that's just it Pan. I'm not entirely sure how to tell you about our conversation."

"Aw, Come on Trunks, they're just words, I mean it's not like Omega's going to show up and blast you if you use the wrong one or anything,"

Trunks made a tsk noise and shook his head. "I don't know Pan, with something like this, it sure seems that way..."

Pan rolled her eyes and looked at him again, her features were anxious, making him feel even more uneasy. "Ugh, Trunks you know you can tell me anything right?"

He nodded hesitantly. It was true, he could always talk to her openly, but telling her that their relationship had just escalated somehow within the past year or so, something about that just seemed like pulling teeth at the moment.

Pan shifted onto her knees, the eagerness seemed to be overflowing inside her. "So out with it then, the suspense is killing me!"

Trunks hung his head as he thought hard about his next sentence, which never seemed to come; he just couldn't find any of the correct words he needed. He looked at her with his hopeful blue orbs meeting her grey eager ones.

He panicked, his thoughts were blurred, he couldn't seem to think straight as her dark eyes captured, and held his; those raven colored eyes pierced clean through him, and he officially lost his ability to speak. Somehow in the middle of it all, he had kept a wry smirk on his face.

Finally when Pan was about to pry further for him to explain, Trunks gathered her into his arms and quickly eased his mouth over hers, caressing her lips with his.

Only a few rushed seconds passed, and Pan jerked backward in pure shock. "T-trunks, you just- but I- and you..." she stood abruptly, legs trembling, knowing that blood was rapidly rising to her head and face. "Why on earth did you just do that! I said you could_ tell _me anything, not- not that!" She paced, randomly throwing her hands in the air for emphasis.

"What can I say Pan? I couldn't find the words, and you were getting impatient," he replied coolly and slightly amused by her reaction, as he leaned back to watch her pace.

The dark haired teen ceased her pacing and narrowed her eyes at the offender. "You just took advantage of me!" she accused, pointing at him.

"How true you are Pan, and you won't hear me arguing with you about that," he told her with a smug expression plastered among his features.

Pan couldn't believe what she was hearing. Trunks didn't act like this, what's gotten into him?

She shifted on her feet nervously, hand on hips. "I think I deserve an explanation, what exactly did my dad tell you?" she asked, trying to avert the attention from her, still burning, face. Her brain raced to keep up with her rapid heartbeat, as she tried to calm herself with happy? No. Angry thoughts? Well whatever kind of thoughts would rid her of the blush that had so uninvitedly planted itself on her face.

"Isn't it obvious Pan?" When her burning scowl didn't waver, Trunks tried again to explain his earlier conversation with Gohan. It went a lot smoother this time, since he already had the majority of his point across.

Pan's blush had vanished considerably by the time he finished. Her eyes aimed at the ground, she wasn't sure what to say at this point.

Trunks lurched onto an elbow so he could make eye contact with her. "Pan? Earth to Pan, say something," he waved a hand mildly, trying to get her attention.

Pan shrugged a shoulder. "What am I suppose to say to that?" She looked to her right, attempting to ignore him. "I feel so awkward now, I mean last night I thought you were just playing around, you know, trying to embarrass me,"

"Yeah," Trunks sat up with an ashamed sigh, and scratched the back of his head. "I was actually," it was his turn to look away. "Your dad told me to test you, and well, I huh...I guess I sort of over did it,"

With a sigh of her own, Pan turned her attention to the small crater they had created only minutes before. She scoffed "You know, I think we might have to find a new place to train, I doubt your yard could take anymore of our sparring."

Trunks glanced up at her, wondering how she could skip from one subject to another so quickly. "Um yeah I guess, got anything in mind?"

"Well yeah I might, but-"

"Pan, it's time to come home, you need to study for your exams," that was Gohan's fatherly voice, as he stood in the doorway of the main building.

Pan waved to her father, he nodded and disappeared into the house. She turned back to find Trunks standing right in front of her. She blessed the fact that she was shorter than him, since it mad it easy for her to avoid eye contact. "Trunks, I will need some time to think about this-"

Trunks braced a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok Pan, I understand. You go home and study, and when you finish your last month of school, we can get back to training again."

Pan nodded and finally looked him in eye. "I'll see you in a month then," turning she noticed Trunks hadn't removed his hand. She glanced to inspect the hold up, earning a quick peck on the cheek from him.

"Think about what I said?" his eyes soft, and hopeful, as he waited for a reply.

Blushing again, for probably the third time since yesterday, she tilted her head with a smile and a nod.

With another summon from Gohan, Trunks sent her on her way. Looking back after she joined her father, Pan waved. "Thanks again Trunks, I couldn't have transformed without your help!" she had to shout since Gohan and herself had already taken to the air.

Trunks chuckled and waved back as they flew off.  
---


	7. Nothing but Chaos

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Seven – Nothing by Chaos**

It had been two weeks since that weekend when she had spent with the Briefs. Since then, Pan had to spend every waking moment on her studies, if she didn't, she would have to spend the rest of her seventeenth year trying to catch up, and maybe even after that, seeing as her parents, more than likely, wouldn't let her drop out.

Pan sighed and stared out the window, she was three stories high in her math classroom, and she somehow scored a window seat. That was rare nowadays, since she was absent for nearly three years, off saving the world from dragons, parasites, and androids.

It all started when, Trunks, Pan, and her grandpa Goku, left to find the blackstar dragonballs. Then, that's when all heck seemed to break loose, and she never really seemed to have a break enough to make it back to school. So that meant all her friends, at least the ones she had, moved up ahead of her, so now she had to start all over, with a brand new class of _jerks_ and _jackasses_ she'd often called them. She didn't just think it either, _Oh no_, most the time she said it strait to their faces! Which often erupted into vicious scraps and brawls, but Pan was never the one with the black eyes, or bloody noses, nope, not her. And it was still a mystery why she was always the one sent to the principal's office, and her _opponent**('S')**_? They were always sent to the doctor's office, and on a rare blue mooned occasion, the emergency room.

She scoffed inwardly. Thinking about an encounter last week, when four boys teamed up on her. She would have sent one of them through a window had she not been paying attention.

In the end, Pan bloodied up the other three boy's noses, and once she caught, and set, the _flyer_ on the steady ground, he had wet himself, and then actually had the nerve to run off and rat on her. Saying _she _attacked _them_! How sad was that? A lone girl picking on four _poor,_ defenseless, innocent boys! "Pah!" that's what Pan had to say to that!

Pan huffed within herself. It was a darn good thing her father had much the same kind of days at work. Oh sure he wouldn't get into fist fights, like his daughter, but Gohan would still sometimes come home wanting to vent his aggravations away. _Those_ were the days Pan looked forward to, since both father and daughter could vent out their anger on sparring with each other. Seeing as Videl wasn't much of a fighter anymore, there was really no one else to spar with, although, sometimes Goten would drop by with Chi Chi for dinner, it was still never very often Pan could get to spar with her uncle.

Pan moaned when her thoughts returned to the idea of having to endure two more weeks of this. She just wished she could erase this _learning_ idea from her life. Whoever came up with this lousy abomination known as school, well, she seriously wanted to meet that person. And ask them, "_What good does it do us if the world explodes! I should OWN this school for helping retrieve the dragonballs! And grandpa Goku should be the world champ not my other grandpa! Well...if he was still here at least. And Trunks, he should be...well ok he's smart enough...he's rich enough...he's well known enough...Ok he doesn't need anything!"_ Pan decided, as a chattering flock of sparrows flew past the window.

She sighed again, this time in a bit of befuddlement. Why did Trunks ever have to kiss her like that? He could have just said something...But what would that have been anyway?

She huffed again. Why was she so embarrassed about what _he_ did anyway? She shouldn't be the one feeling awkward, _he's_ the one that did it, not her. But that thought never seemed to last very long, since she often found herself thinking long and hard about how this would change their friendship. This subject interrupted Pan's studies very much during the past couple weeks; she'd keep on drifting off her assignments, racking her brain as to what ever got into her best friend.

Pan shook her head, away from the distracting window, and away from that patch of grass she had so keenly kept an eye on outside. She needed to think happy thoughts. In two weeks, she would be out of this place, and she could ask Trunks all she wanted, why he did what he did, when he did it, then.

She leaned her head back a bit and closed her eyes as she tried to imagine what it would be like this summer. Nothing but training, with her best friend, in matching gis no less! She'd finally get to the bottom of his intentions from the previous month as well.

Pan's eyes shot open when she thought about the bet she made with him. _"Wait a second! He still owes me a wish! And I bet he forgot! Well that's just too convenient!"_ she thought mischievously.

"Well I'm not letting him get away with it!" Pan thought aloud...very loudly indeed, in fact, she cringed as she almost heard her outward thoughts echo throughout the classroom.

Her teacher froze and dropped her marker, then slowly turned to gape at Pan for a second before addressing the girl. "So, ahem, Pan Son, was there something you wanted to tell the class? Or have you just thought of something more important than learning your algebra?" The teacher motioned her hand for Pan to stand from her seat.

Pan sweat dropped before she obeyed and stood, "Um well, no. No not really, I mean..." She sighed when the teacher took her seat, folding her hands and resting her chin on them.

Pan heard a few of her classmates snicker before her teacher hushed them and cleared her throat, in order to avert Pan's attention away from the trouble makers. "Go on, you're on a roll," Pan's teacher told her calmly and took a sip of her coffee.

Mrs. Vanda, Pan's math teacher. She was skinny and wasn't a very tall lady, not even a foot taller than Pan, but no one dared defy her, otherwise she'd make them 'participate' and make them her 'assistant' for the duration of the class, but other than that, she was one of Pan's favorite teachers; she never gave too much homework and she only made you answer if you wanted to. This class was most definitely on of Pan's favorite classes, aside from PE, that's when she could _really_ show her classmates who was in charge. She'd only lap them five times, mind you, let's not get stupid, but no one really expected less of her, since she was, after all, Hurcule's granddaughter.

It was times like this though, when Pan knew her teacher simply wanted the _truth_ and that was it. She'd let you sit down and be ignored for the rest of the class! She just wanted the truth! That seemed so easy yet, at the moment _anything_ would be better than the truth!

After almost a moment of stalling, Pan could feel the tension in the room. Without looking she could sense it. All her classmates were giving her a most unhappy glare. "I uh...was daydreaming that's all," Pan looked at her teacher as she spoke, but quickly moved her eyes downward again.

Mrs. Vanda nodded. "Uh-huh? And? Would you mind to elaborate a bit more?" the teacher asked, sipping her coffee again. She absolutely adored these sorts of breaks to catch up on her caffeine intake.

Pan soon found blood rising to her face more and more, she was so uncomfortable right now, and why was her teacher doing this?

With a sigh, Pan bravely swallowed, trying to wet her throat from the sudden dryness which seemed to engulf her mouth seconds before. "Well I was...I mean," she sighed and stared at the floor as she said, "it was about a boy." Pan mentally smacked herself; Trunks was anything but a boy! For Kami's sake he was nearly twice her age!

A few boys elbowed each other and snickered as the teacher choked a bit on her last sip of the brown liquid. "Oh...Well," she glared at the selected noise makers, as did Pan. "_Ahem!_" Mrs. Vanda warned again with her version of a growl, causing them to cower under her scowl and be silent once again. "So, Pan Son, would you mind explaining anything about this _boy_? I promise it needn't be anything _specific_, just something that explains your outburst." The teacher was about to take another sip of her coffee, but thought about what just happened, she decided against it, and simply waited for Pan to answer.

"Well..." Pan fumbled with her words and shifted uncomfortable on her feet nervously as she racked her brain, _"Ok I can do this, I've fought giant space worms, I can DO this...But what in the world am I suppose to say about Trunks? Well wait a second, what in the world CAN'T I say about Trunks? Ugh just get this over with Pan!"_

Mrs. Vanda cleared her throat again when she noticed Pan had closed her eyes tight. This caused Pan to flinch back a bit, and out of her thoughts. "Ok well he's older than me, a _lot_ older than me, and I was just thinking about the fact that we were going to be spending a lot of time together this summer." Pan looked desperately to her teacher, hoping _beyond_ hope that the woman was satisfied.

Mrs. Vanda nodded and motioned for Pan to sit. "Very good, now let's continue shall we?" the teacher pushed her hands on her desk to stand, not before taking a giant sip of coffee, mind you, Oh no she needed it very much after that little excursion.

Pan sighed in relief and sat down in her chair gratefully. _"Don't EVER do that AGAIN Pan, you'll have a heart attack!"_ she told herself, closing her eyes in order to steady her heart beat.

She was, in fact, very close to her objective, but alas, there just _had_ to be a schnook in the group.

A boy two seats to the right from her, tossed a wad of paper at her, landing smack dab on her head. Much to her delight, math class was over for the day, because when she growled, and shot an angered glare to the boy, he went flying. He went flying so fast no one even knew he was gone until he started screaming from the ceiling. Somehow, Pan had sent an invisible energy blast at the boy's chair. But how was that possible?

Pan shrugged and calmly walked out of the classroom with the other teenagers. She had an expression on her face that said, "Oh, that's interesting."

All of her other classmates gaped as they left, while Mrs. Vanda nearly triggered the fire alarm, she immediately ordered everyone to leave so more teachers could make their way in to help. The poor kid was staring down; his chair was wedged deep in the ceiling, while the only thing holding him there was his desk.

"_Oh, he's fine, that chair's not coming down," _Pan thought wryly and left the scene. She at least had enough heart to stay and make sure the boy wasn't going to get hurt..._too_ bad...Well ok, she only stayed there because she didn't want to be responsible for someone's death.

When PE finally came around, Pan's entire class moaned. It seemed that her athletic advantage wasn't the worst of their torture. Their PE teacher took a special liking to Pan. The less than half Saiyan impressed him, and he allowed her to take over as Co teacher most the time, while he reclined at a bench with a book. Mr. Tref was his official title; he was a big man, with dark brown hair, and a low rumbling voice you'd expect from a PE teacher.

"Aright all you little weasels, get out there! I want ten laps and five times up the rope!" bellowed the towering man. He nodded to Pan when she grinned happily at him.

"Having a good day Sensei?" she asked him cheerfully as her class trudged through the gym doors.

"Aye, I expect yours is just beginning, eh Young Chaos?" He smirked at the other teenagers and crossed his arms.

Pan beamed at him; how she loved that nickname he had given her. It made her feel special somehow. "You know it!" She laughed evilly and narrowed her eyes at today's targets.

Mr. Tref chuckled, patting her on the back. "Have fun with that," that said, he left to catch up on his reading.

Trotting to the front of the group and then running backwards in order to look at them, Pan ordered her class to pick it up to a jog.

Pan heard more than half of them grumbling, and one brave, idiotic soul even dared to say, "Hey why don't you go bother your boyfriend, I bet he could use this damn exercise more than us!"

Pan felt a temple throb; she glared at the group until everyone except the offender moved so he was now in perfect view. Pan now wondered if she could pull the same stunt with this one. Maybe send him into orbit. _"No, no, that would be evil Pan,"_ she thought, but she was _feeling_ evil right now...

She growled and pointed down the track. "You! Move now!" Pan roared at the boy, she was in no mood for this, _especially _when she could _do_ something about it.

The boy hesitated, but jumped forward when Pan shouted, "Didn't you hear me? You are leading!"

No one else dared to try, or _say_ anything to upset her like that again for a good five laps. But like all good things it didn't last forever, because halfway through the sixth lap, she continued to run backwards, either because she thought it better to keep her eyes on them, or simply because she was showing off, she decided it was both.

She soon noticed a few of her classmates hide smiles and snickers behind a hand as they ran. Among these were a variety of girls _and_ boys. Pan knew full well what they were snickering about, but she thought it better to let them think they were winning, at least, for a second.

When she sensed the timing was correct, Pan jumped into a summersault backwards, neatly dodging the leader's sneaky attempt to ram into her, causing him to stumbled and crash conveniently under Mr. Tref's bench.

The big man laughed heartily, looking down from his book and around to then grab the boy by his cuff. "You missed it there Tiny."

"Sorry Captain, I let that one get away!" Pan informed her teacher with a playful salute.

"Aye, don't let it happen again, Chaos." setting the boy down, Mr. Tref barked, "Get out there boy!"

"Y-yesir!" glaring briefly at Pan, the boy returned to his group as he rubbed one of his arms sorely.

That was the end of PE's _interesting_ events. Oh, how much she relished that class. Pan looked _forward_ to school only for that class, everything else could just be bombed for all she cared.

Pan stepped gratefully onto the concrete outside and took a quick glance at the building which seemed like a prison. She took a deep breath while her eyes went skyward at the bright blue sky as her classmates and other teenagers rushed by, almost as if it was a race of some kind to see who could get away from the building the quickest.

"_Now where was that speed during PE?"_ Pan asked herself and raising an eyebrow at her younger classmates. She shrugged the thought off and started her own way home.

"Stop right there!" she heard someone shout behind her.

Pan sighed exasperated. "What now?" she asked, turning and letting her backpack slump to her right arm. _"Oh goody, ANOTHER boy that wants to ruin my day, it's funny really, they only seem to end up making me feel better in the end..."_ She was right, another boy stood, cracking his knuckles, as if he had something planned for them; he was easily a head taller than her, with earrings and other assorted ornaments in every possible location on his face. And what was this? He had not just one, but two, chains hanging from his jeans, not to mention his own pair of leather gloves. This caused Pan to think twice about her wardrobe now. Well at least he wasn't wearing a bandana at least that was safe.

The older teenager raised his hands in a shrug. "Oh nothing much, it's just, I heard you humiliated my younger brother in PE today, I'm just here to set things straight," he explained and motioned a hand, as his brother stepped out from behind him, smirking all too smugly.

Pan rolled her eyes and took a quick scout around the area. This was just_ too_ good; they decided to approach her when she was on a path through a small park, except _this_ part of the path was blocked on either side with thick bushes. _"A perfect spot for an ambush," _she thought and housed a smirk of her own. Now she could use her ki advantage on them and not get caught. "Humiliate is such a strong word, I would say _humble_ is the correct term, and just what exactly did you have in mind?" she asked, eyebrow raised, arms crossed.

The older brother scoffed and toggled his right arm in front of his brother, muttering something to him. The younger one nodded and rummaged through his pack, when he found the desired item, he handed it to his older brother.

Pan tilted her head a tiny bit, wondering what they had planned, but it didn't matter; she could handle anything they dished out.

Grinning wickedly at her, the taller teen shot forward and aimed the spray can at her face. Pan didn't flinch, she could have easily fazed out of the line of fire, but she wasn't worried in the least of this punk's actions.

That was until he sprayed the contents of the can in her face. Pan jerked back from the stinging, searing pain in her eyes, as she screamed and held her forehead.

Panic started to consume her now. She tried to open her eyes but that only made things worse. It only earned her a blurry, fogged sight and caused her eyes to sting more. Pan shouted her agony, pulling her elbows to her sides, she roared with a double-edged fury. This was one thing the Son's had in common, they did NOT like to have their eyes messed with. And Pan was going to let the world, but mostly these to idiots.

Both brothers were advancing on her until they finally had to cover their ears because of her piercing shrills. They soon started to back off, but Pan was not having it, she wanted _revenge_ after that! She blindly formed blue energy balls in both hands and was about to show these boys who was on top of the food chain, but something stopped her, she felt a familiar ki in front of her now. Whoever it was, had landed right in front of her, and was staring down the original antagonists.

The two boys looked at each other, wide eyed at this point. It only took one fake charge by the newcomer to set them off into a mad scramble to get away.

Sensing the trouble makers had gone, Pan dropped to the ground, rubbing her eyes irritably. A gentle hand stopped her, causing her to look up, or at least try. "You know Panny, you were about to kill them. You should watch that temper of yours. And that's only going to make it hurt worse," the voice explained calmly, and kneeled before her.

Pan knew that voice, it was her overprotective Trunks, somehow he managed to find her, and during a workday no less. "What? Trunks? But how did you-? I mean..." Trunks silenced her with a finger to her lips.

"We should get you home; your mom will know what to do about your eyes." Pan nodded blindly at him, and gasped slightly as he lifted her into his arms.

Shifting her weight in his arms so he could carry her more comfortably, Trunks took a quick angered glance around to make sure no one was there to see him take off. But at the moment, he really wouldn't have cared much anyway.

Taking to the air, it reminded Trunks of a similar time when he had to do much the same thing back on the planet which Dr. Myuu ruled. Trunks had to leave Goku in order to get Pan to safety. The only difference was that she was unconscious, and he didn't think anything of it back then, other than the fact that Goku told him to do it. This time he _chose_ to carry her because he really didn't have to since he always made sure he had a few vehicle capsules on him. But Pan didn't know that, so he got no arguments.

The wind blew passed rapidly, drowning out all other sound. Surprisingly Pan could feel the pain receding in her eyes; she opened them a crack, and her vision returned slowly, but with the speed Trunks was accomplishing, she couldn't open them very far. "Trunks!" she shouted in order to get his attention.

Trunks glanced at her, and noticed her struggled effort to open her eyes, he slowed to a hover. "Yeah Pan, what is it? In another minute or so and we'll be at your house."

"That's great but, do you think you slow it down a bit? I think this stuff is wearing off," Pan said and blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her vision.

Trunks smirked and started forward again, slower this time. "Gladly," he murmured, readjusting his hold on her.

His speed was slow enough now, that background noises could be heard, and mostly it was just flocks of birds chirping in the trees below. Pan couldn't seem to stop pondering how Trunks got to her so fast. Wasn't he working?

Pan attempted to look at him in vain, her eyesight was still blurred and it still stung when she tried to focus. "Trunks, how exactly did you find me so fast? I thought you had to work."

The demi-Saiyan glanced at her for a second, but then averted his attention ahead. "Can't you just be happy with the fact that I was there?" Pan shook her head..

Trunks chuckled some. "Well I quit, I decided to spend the rest of the month training with my dad. I was hoping to get some tips from him on how to train someone."

Pan huffed a little. "Well that still doesn't explain how you showed up out of nowhere."

"Well your power level was strangely irregular today, so I thought to come and keep an eye on you. You know...I am a little curious how you sent that kid top side." With a wry grin he added, "Young _Chaos_."

Pan gasped with a slight blush over her nose and cheeks, staring at him if she could, blankly appalled. "You watched _all_ my classes?"

"Eh, no, I got there right before you pulled that stunt with your invisible ki blast. And I like that name by the way, can I use it?" Trunks asked with a nonchalant tone.

"What? But how did you jus--er I don't care..." Pan frowned, feeling hopelessly used somehow. How exactly did he hear what her teacher said? What, did Trunks talk to him or something? Well whatever the reason, she didn't feel like pressing the issue right now. She could tell just by the way he was acting, Trunks was in a 'frisky' mood today and she wasn't up to par right now.

Trunks on the other hand, grinned at the thought of a nickname. Not even a month yet and he already had a nickname for her. Not to mention it fit her perfectly. She always caused chaos, no matter where she went. Then he or Goku would always have to clean up after her. But that was just one of her little perks, and it grew on him after a time. Now he loved the idea of being with her, it would always be exciting, never a dull moment with Pan. Either she'd pick a fight or start one, Trunks could always count on that. She was smart about it too; she always knew Trunks and her grandpa would back her up if she ever bit off more than she could chew. Something Trunks had just proved minutes before.  
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	8. Confusion is Mutual

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Eight – Confusion is Mutual**

Being disoriented, Pan had subconsciously wrapped her arm around Trunks' neck the entire time. When her eyesight, for the most part, returned, she jerked her hand back as if something had just scorched her fingers.

Trunks chuckled, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "You know Pan, you really need to get over that road block of yours, it's proving to be quite a problem."

"Road block? What are you talking about?"

"Pride, your pride is holding you back," Trunks said, and began to descend when he noted their destination.

Pan squinted at him, what exactly was he getting at? "Holding me back? From what?" she wanted to know.

Trunks sighed as the grass below, and around, his feet quivered from the energy he was emanating, he set down softly in the yard, and eased Pan to her feet. "We'll talk about it later I guess, for now let's make sure you're not going blind." After setting her on the ground, and letting her test her legs, he motioned a hand for her to lead the way into the house.

Pan blinked for a second, trying to form logical thoughts about what he said, and the fact that they were already at her house confused her. "Oh, right, what was that stuff anyway?" she asked stroking a hand over her eyes.

Trunks scratched the back of his head in a bit of bewilderment. "I don't know Pan, it's probably best you don't know. Let's just have your mom look and make sure your eyes are ok."

The smaller Saiyan nodded wearily, the day was finally catching up to her, and all she wanted to do now was sit and vegetate. Pan stepped shakily toward the front door to her house. It was a bright sunny day, so her mom left the door open. It wasn't like she was scared anyone would break in, Videl could take care of herself, and she was, after all, one of the only known humans in the world able to use ki, even if she was getting a bit rusty in this time of peace.

Trunks walked immediately beside Pan. The raven hared girl rolled her eyes. _"Honestly, he's like a mother hen when the slightest thing is wrong with me,"_ she thought, while stepping into the house, she looked from left to right, having to adjust her eyesight to the slightly darker house after being outside in the bright sunshine.

Trunks dropped Pan's pack on the floor near the door from which he stood as Pan searched around for her mother. "Mom, I'm home!" she paused when stepping away from Trunks and to the middle of the living room so she could now get a good look into the kitchen. "I uh, I have a slight problem." Not seeing her mother, Pan frowned, scratching the back of her head, she walked back to Trunks. "She must be upstairs or someth-"

"Hi sweetie, I was in my room reading." Videl greeted while descending the stairs from the two bedrooms. "Hi Trunks, what brings you here?" she asked when she stood only a few feet away. Pan gripped her mom around the waist in a tight hug, obviously happy to be home after a long day of school.

Trunks shifted on his feet, and held his arms to his sides in an awkward position. "Well your little Chaos here got into a bit of a scrap today," the half Saiyan said, now with one hand on his hip and the other indicating Pan as the 'Chaos'.

Pan growled when her mother demanded to know what happened. "Er Trunks, did you have to put it exactly like that?" She looked at him and released her mother.

Videl's worried gaze didn't waver as she pried further. "Pan, Honey, what happened?" she asked, concerned, and held Pan's right hand in a motherly grip.

Pan sighed and stared up at her mother. She noticed her vision still hadn't recovered completely, but she could tell that who she looked upon was indeed her mother, although there was a thick fog outlining her figure.

When Pan seemed to be in a daze and didn't reply, Videl asked again, "Pan? Tell me Honey."

The small Saiyan snapped away from her trance. "What? Oh right, I huh got ambushed after school, and I was..." Pan paused, searching for the correct wording when Trunks interrupted.

"Cocky? Arrogant? I seen the whole thing Pan," Trunks stated coolly, arms crossed.

Pan narrowed her eyes at the demi-Saiyan in her doorway. "Careless," she finished, not even acknowledging his statement.

Videl looked from Pan to Trunks, and then to Pan again. "But what happened? and why are you blinking so much?" switching her hand's position from the girl's hand to her cheek, the woman tenderly eased her thumb over Pan's right eye, examining it at the same time, all the while expecting an answer.

Pan toggled her head at her mother's will as she continued to examine the slight swelling that had occurred. "Well, like I said, a couple boys cornered me and sprayed my face with something."

Videl huffed and scoffed at the same time if it was even possible. "Why didn't you just dodge, or fly away or something Pan? Or is what Trunks said true? Were you just getting a big head as usual?"

Pan shrugged her shoulders when her mother finished the examination. "I guess so, but I wasn't going to run away! I'm not a coward mom!" the dark haired teen shouted, stomping her foot for emphasis.

Videl sighed and hopelessly looked to Trunks with a, _what am I going to do with her?_ Look.

Trunks just raised his hands in a shrug, and Pan grumbled something about miserable, sneaky boys.

With yet another exasperated sigh, Videl started her way into the kitchen. "Ok Pan, it looks infected so I need to get some special eye drops ready. You go lay on the couch, I'll be back in a minute or so."

Pan nodded and did as told. She hopped over the back of the living room couch and landed softly in the middle of the empty sofa.

Trunks chuckled to himself. For some reason seeing her so full of life, even after something so normally traumatizing as nearly getting mugged, or who knows what else, well something about that made him smile. Any normal girl would have been scared for the rest of her life after nearly getting mugged. But not Pan, no, she had lots of unnatural experiences throughout the past few years, and this was something so trivial that she had almost nearly forgotten about it. In fact, she would have already, had she not still be suffering from the burning in her eyes. Come to think of it, had she been any normal girl, that probably would have blinded her for life, but having that fraction of Saiyan blood flowing through her veins made her anything but normal.

Trunks walked over next to the couch and sat down on the armrest as Pan groaned and laid back, resting her wrist over her forehead. "If I ever find out where that jerk lives, Urgh! He will have a black eye to match the other one I'm going to give him when I find him!" she growled. She didn't have to look to see Trunks was there, she could sense him. But it wasn't like he needed to be very close, he could have heard her anyway, since she said it almost as a shout.

Trunks had a wry smirk on his features as he stared at her. It didn't look like she was in pain, but it did indeed look as though she was in a bit of discomfort. Trunks thought back, to when Omega was causing havoc, and Goku had to fight him blindly after his encounter with Eise Shenron. After awhile, Goku was able to heal himself naturally, so then maybe Pan would do the same.

She wriggled uncomfortably on the padding, as though, there was something else bothering her. Soon enough, Pan sat up, an agitated look about her. She growled and trudged over to, and up the stairs, disappearing for a good minute.

When she came back down, Trunks noticed she had changed into some specially made sweat pants. Allowing her tail to roam free through the custom made hole.

Trunks chuckled outwardly at this. "What's wrong Pan? Tail getting to be a burden?"

She growled. "Of course not! And I'm not getting rid of it! I already had this discussion with my parents!" the girl huffed and took her former position on the couch.

Trunks raised his hands in an amused defense. "Sorry I asked, but I wondered why your jeans actually fit you today."

Pan growled again, looking at him through one eye, as she reclined while her hands supported her head. "Yeah, I needed them to be high enough so I could wrap it around my stomach. You have no idea how much it hurts to sit on all day."

Videl's soft padding alerted Trunks to turn and see her step around to Pan's head, next to the other arm of the couch. "Ok Pan, this could either hurt a lot, or be very irritating, so I need you to hold still, understand?" she asked, while uncapping the medicated eye drops.

Pan nodded and reset her head so it was flat with the cushions.

When they had finished, Pan sat up, blinking like crazy and unknowingly clenched a couch pillow for comfort, as the medication stung and burned the infection away.

Videl capped the dropper and nodded to Trunks. "I'm going back upstairs Pan, your dad will be home in an hour or so."

"Ok Mom," Pan confirmed and when Videl's presence left the room, Pan felt the couch vibrate a tiny bit, indicating Trunks had sat down beside her. "Trunks, you don't have to stay here you know; I'm ok now," she said, turning her head to him in vain.

Trunks smiled. "I know, but I don't have anything else to do today, other than go home and train with my dad, and to tell the truth, I'd rather not." He hung his head in a hopeful gaze. "Besides, I was hoping you'd like to go somewhere with me. It's Friday, so I didn't think your parents would mind."

Pan's face lit up with excitement as her tail whipped excitedly. "Really? Well yes of course I want to go! Let's go now!" the female Saiyan pushed herself off the couch, but didn't feel her sensei had the same amount of enthusiasm at the moment.

Trunks felt his breath pulled into an incoherent laugh as he beamed at her. "How about we wait until that medicine wears off, and your dad gets home so you can ask him?" he patted the seat next to him, knowing she would get the hint just by sound alone.

Pan moaned and flopped to the couch again, tail practically dead now. "Fine, but I bet this stuff would wear off by the time we get there...Wait where is there exactly?"

Trunks smirked and stretched an arm over the back of the couch. "That's a surprise. And just what did you have in mind for getting there? What, did you expect me to carry you again?" he teased and watched her face fade from excited, to embarrassed, tail twitching as she stared at her lap and lowered her head.

Trunks laughed, he loved that tail now. It was just too funny; he could read her temperaments exactly as they came. "That's not what I meant Trunks, and I guess you're right," muttering, Pan looked away.

Trunks couldn't help it, he wasn't used to seeing her timid like this. Lowering his hand from the head of the couch, he rustled her bandana in amusement. "I know, Pan, I know. But it's like Bra said, you're just so easy to pick on lately."

Pan sounded a sighed growl and tried to scowl at him. The burning in her eyes stopped and now she could see blurry figures again, it also seemed they were clearing up by the second. She looked at him, eyes narrowed mostly because of the soreness in them, but also because she wanted answers. The dark haired teen couldn't take it any more; she had to get to the bottom of this. "Well maybe if you would stop flirting with me then I'd be able to hold my composure! For heaven's sake Trunks, what has gotten into you lately?"

He frowned at her and let his shoulders droop, as he imitated her previous action and looked away. "I'm sorry Pan, but you know...I don't think it's just me. I think, if you opened up a little, then you would understand." He smirked sadly as he hung his head. "I can tell. You thought about it a lot."

Pan sat up erect and fought another blush off with a broken smile; her eyesight was almost perfect again. "Yeah," she paused, tail twitching erratically. "I have, actually. But Trunks, to tell the truth, I've always thought of you as a brother or an uncle even. So you've got to understand, this is really awkward for me."

Pan watched his features; he smiled warmly, and understandably. "It seems you need a little more time, but that's ok, I'm sure you'll understand soon." He stood up, hands formed into fists. Apparently, he was fighting something inside, holding it in so as not to make a scene. Pan watched him intently, she didn't want him to leave, but she just wanted answers.

Finally, after a good moment of silence, Trunks sighed with hard eyes aimed at the ground. "Pan, I'm sorry."

Pan stood in a panic when Trunks started to walk away. "What? But Trunks what about-" she started but was interrupted when Trunks faced her, cupping her chin with his left hand.

"Look Pan, I know that you're too young for me right now, but I'd hoped," he paused, and looked away sadly. "I had hoped you wouldn't push me away like this."

"Trunks wait!" Pan tugged at his sleeve when he stepped back. "I'm not, I mean..." Trunks stood and waited patiently as she refused to let go. "I'm not pushing you away Trunks, I'm just confused, that's all. And I really want to go with you today...Wherever it was you said you'd take me," she met his eyes, her features hopeful.

Trunks kept his sad smile, and gently pried her hand away. "Pan I promise, I'll take you somewhere in two weeks like we planned, now don't go picking fights just to see me again, understand?"

Pan nodded and stared at him worriedly, he seemed hurt somehow, but how was that even possible? How could she hurt him? She continued to stare dumbly when she noticed he still held her by the wrist. She felt a nagging pull in the back of her throat as the tears started to well up. Just the thought of Trunks being hurt by something she said or did, made her angry, sad, confused, all of the above. "Trunks I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on, I feel like my whole world is changing all of a sudden."

With a weary sigh, Trunks thought it better not to say anything else. "Trunks?" she asked in dismay when he walked to the front door. "Trunks!" she asked again when he didn't look at her.

"Pan I'm sorry too, I shouldn't be making you grow up so fast, it isn't right." The demi-Saiyan said without looking back as he took to the air before Pan could say anything else.

Pan stumbled to the doorway after tripping off the couch in the mad rush to follow him. "I'm sorry Trunks," she repeated while watching his departing form.

Tears filled her eyes now as she felt that pull in her throat again, this time more painful and harder to bear without sobbing. Once he was out of view, Pan found it unbearable to keep from crying.

Stepping back to the couch, she looked back one more time, hopeful, but then sighed and sat back down. The choking in the throat became worse and before long her eyes were leaking again, but for much different reasons.

She didn't know _why_ she was crying, the only thought she could come up with, was the same one she had been saying all day, she was confused, as simple as that. Confused, and scared of what this was going to do to her friendship with Trunks, and how this relationship with him was going to change her world forever.

The stairs creaked and Pan looked up to see her mother. Tear filled eyes met worried ones. "Pan? What's wrong Sweetie?" Videl wanted to know stepping over and sitting next to her.

Pan sobbed a couple times, and then leaned into her mother. She sobbed again as Videl stroked her daughter's hair behind her bandana while resting her chin on the girl's head. "Pan, you need to tell me what's wrong, I'm so out of the loop, in fact, I'm in a square on the other side."

Pan chuckled slightly, in between sobs at her mother's humor. "Mom, how can I tell you, when I don't even know myself?"

Sighing, Videl moved a few strands of hair away in order to kiss Pan's forehead. "Oh Pan, this has something to do with Trunks doesn't it?"

Pan nodded as her grip tightened around her mother. "A couple years ago I wanted people to treat me as an adult, but now everything is just moving too fast, I want it to slow down."

Videl chuckled at this. "Well of course you do, Pan. That's just life, you want to grow up when you're little, and then you want it to go in reverse when you get older...that's just how it is."

"But he's my best friend Mom, it just seems wrong somehow..."

"Do you really believe that Pan? Or is that just an excuse?" Videl held her back, to get a good look at her daughter.

"No...But," Pan mumbled and added, "this changes everything...doesn't it?" She kept thinking things would never be the same again, she would feel uncomfortable around him, and she would never be able to be herself around him anymore. But maybe, maybe that's the whole reason she was feeling this way. If she couldn't be herself around her best friend, no matter what, then what good is a best friend?

"Where is my headstrong Pan and what did you do with her?" Videl rubbed Pan's head playfully, getting a restrained chuckle out of the girl. "What ever happened to all your confidence and jumping in head first, _without thinking?_" Videl wanted to know and released her daughter to stand. "Your dad will be home in a minute, why don't you talk to him?"

Pan nodded, wiping her eyes as Videl left for the kitchen. _"I sure hope Papa is up to sparring today,"_ she thought, while stepped just outside the front door so she could then sit and wait. _"Otherwise, I might have to go find a few boulders and trees to practice on."  
_---


	9. Not sure what this is

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Nine – Not sure what this is**

When he touched down in the Capsule Corp. front lawn, Trunks noticed Vegeta yet again in meditation, this time sitting in the shade of a tree. He didn't look as though he wished to be bothered, but Trunks decided to take the chance and approach him.

Making his way over, the half-Saiyan stood before the Prince until he was acknowledged as Vegeta glanced at his son soon enough. "Where have you been? I thought you were serious about training."

"Well hi to you too Father," Trunks greeted flatly. "I've been occupied, and I need to talk with you about something." He sat beside his Saiyan father and continued. "It's about Pan."

Vegeta grunted, closing his eyes again. His relaxed posture included one leg stretched outward while the other arched, his arms crossed lazily. "You mean the runt?"

Trunks rolled his eyes. There just wasn't any changing this man who was his father. Trunks scowled at him a tad in irritation. "Dad, she isn't a runt, and I would appreciate it if you would stop giving people nick names like that!"

Vegeta looked at his son through one eye. "People? Or just her?"

"Father, please!" Trunks shouted in agitation and embarrassment. "Would everyone just stop pushing us? Curse it all, she's too young!" he blurted out without any real logical reason.

Vegeta chuckled at this. "Is that what this is about?" the full blooded Saiyan asked, turning his head to give his son the full of his smirk.

"You know what? Forget it, I don't know why I even bother-" Trunks pushed a hand to the ground to stand, but the older Saiyan wasn't having it.

"_Sit down_ you flippant brat! I'm not done with you yet!" he barked and leered while Trunks froze, then sat, a bit more timid. "Now what's this about the clown's spawn being too young? She is at the perfect age, stop wasting time and make her yours already!"

Trunks gaped at his father for a good ten second with a tiny shade of pink coloring his face. Oh sure he was fairly used to his father's way of saying things, but not when he'd address it directly to Trunks. "Fa-Father, what are you saying? Bra is almost the same age, so does that apply to her too?"

Vegeta's eyes went wide in a sudden red rage. "Th-That is beside the point!" the Prince actually stuttered for a second before reclaiming his composure and scowled with gritted teeth.

"Sure, sure," Trunks muttered and looked away in disbelief. "She's not ready for a relationship _or_ marriage for that matter...I'm assuming that's what we're talking about...It's getting a little hard to tell with the direction this conversation happens to be headed."

"Pah!" Vegeta spat and scowled. "Do you have any idea what it was like on our Saiyan planet? Do you actually think we wasted our time on _marriages_?"

"Father, I don't _care_ what the customs were on your home planet!"

"Your planet!" the Prince corrected. "It is your planet just as much as it is mine; you can't deny the fact that you are part of that race!"

"Yes, I _can _and I _will_. I've never been there, I don't agree with the customs, and I'm not going to push her anymore. I've already decided." Making it to a standing position this time, Trunks gave his father one last glance. "Honestly Father, your ways are dead. Let them go."

"They are not dead, they are simple, clear, and undeniable."

"Enough Father, I don't want to hear it anymore!" Trunks shouted and faced him.

Vegeta hovered to a standing position, his expression unreadable. "So tell me then. Tell me if I'm wrong with this. When you are with her, you protect her from everything you possibly can correct?"

Trunks nodded. It was hard to be mad when his father used such a calm tone. "Yes, but I would do that for anyone in trouble."

"I'm sure you would, but it is not likely with as quick a reaction time," the Saiyan Prince pointed out.

Sighing, Trunks aimed his head to the side but kept his eyes on the older man. "What are you trying to say Dad?"

"I'm saying that you are too old to be without a consort thus far. Like it or not Trunks, you are the heir to our race-"

"I said I didn't want to hear it anymore!" Trunks powering up slightly and pulled his arms back in a rising rage. "I never asked to be the heir! And what does it matter if I am? It's not like there's anyone to rule over! Face it Father, the Saiyan race is gone, just accept it!" Trunks huffed and steadily walked into the main house, ignoring his father's grunts of disapproval. "Stupid, sonuva, arrogant old man," mumbling to himself, he started toward the kitchen.

"Hey, Trunks...where have you been?" The future prince looked to find that the voice matched his sister. She seemed to be heading in the same direction as he.

"Hey Sis, did you know that dad thinks you and Pan are ready for marriage? Of course, dad said it little differently." Trunks examined his fingers calmly as Bra gaped at him. "So, how is your day so far?"

"What did you just say?" Bra demanded from her older brother.

"I just asked, 'how was your day?'" he repeated playfully, knowing exactly what his sister wanted to hear. "Oh, and if you want to know more about what Dad said, why don't you go ask him for yourself, I'm sure he'd be extremely _happy_ to explain." Grinning out of his own cleverness, Trunks made his way down the hall as Bra ran out the front door.

After his fifth and sixth step, Trunks heard his father shout, "What? Truuuuunks!"

"Sorry Dad, but you know, you only get what's coming to you!" Trunks chuckled and smiled to himself. "And that's been coming to you for awhile now," he murmured with a big smirk on his features when he entered the dining area.

After finding something to eat, Trunks had just sat down at a table and started eating when his sister walked it and took a chair next him. "So where were you earlier? Dad said you were supposed to be training today," she asked curiously.

Trunks ignored her and continued eating as he started flipping through a magazine that had been left on the table.

Bra scowled, coupled with a little growl, but a snobby look quickly took over her features. "Fine, since you're not in much of a talkative mood I'll tell you all about my interesting little conversation with Dad a minute ago, oh yes it was _very_ interesting, you have to hear it."

Trunks quickly frowned and prayed something would demand his attention before his sister could elaborate further. "Uh look Sis, I'd love to hear about it, but don't you have some papers to file out or something? I mean when I was president, there were _always_ papers to sign..." His eye twitched when he seen his sister was _not _amused with his interruption. _"Oh please let there be papers to sign! PLEASE!"_

Bra started to reply but a muffled shout was heard from another room in the house.

When Trunks moved to another doorway in the kitchen, he heard enough of Bulma's sentence to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Trunks, what did you do? Ever since I got home, Pan has wanted nothing but to spar with me, and to tell the truth, I'm just not up to it right now!"

"Gohan? Wait, calm down, what do you mean, is she upset or something?"

"Well of course she's upset! And she won't tell me why. But I asked Videl and she told me it had something to do with you."

"Well Gohan I don't-"

"Trunks, I know I mentioned something about Pan idolizing you, but what exactly is going on here?"

"I don't know Gohan, why don't you just let me talk to her for a minute?"

"No. She'd probably throw the phone at me. Anything to get me mad enough to spar, I'm telling you she's desperate! And I don't think I have enough senzu beans to cover the damage she wants to inflict at the moment!"

Trunks could hardly keep his laughter caged after hearing that sentence. "Gohan, you can't be serious, is she really that upset?"

"Trunks, if I could swap lives with you right now, I would seriously consider-"

Trunks could hear Gohan sigh and lower the phone while someone on his end spoke. After a second, Trunks could make out the voices and words. "Dad, if you won't spar with me, then I'm going to gramps' dojo for the weekend, hopefully he has some new students I can throw around."

Trunks then heard Gohan say something about cooling off, but Trunks could tell Pan wasn't listening, as he heard a door open and shut before Gohan had even finished his warning. Trunks then heard Gohan groan and return the phone to his ear. "Trunks, this could prove to be quite a problem. I've hardly ever seen her like this."

Trunks breathed inward and sat down at the table again, where Bra was watching, and listening intently at the one sided conversation, earnestly trying to understand it. "Well Gohan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get her so worked up. I honestly didn't think this would happen."

With that said, Bra inferred a few suspicions that only seemed to click together with her earlier conversation with Vegeta. "You didn't!" With a gasp, she stood, hands flat on the table, as Trunks eyed her with a raised eyebrow.

Gohan, a very confused Saiyan on the other end, also raised an eyebrow as Videl stepped into the kitchen where Gohan sat. She questioned her husband with a simple tilt of her head, which only caused Gohan to shrug.

"Um, er, Gohan one second," Trunks covered the speaker part of the phone and gave his sister a, 'are you ok?' look. "Huh Bra, is there something wrong?"

"Well of course there's something wrong! What did you do to Pan?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" It was Trunks' turn to stand as he forgetfully removed his hand from the speaker. "What do you think I did?"

Meanwhile at Gohan's house, Videl could hear the conversation as Trunks was, indeed, shouting that loud. She chuckled as Gohan scowled at nothing in particular.

"Well I thought that...you- but Dad just said...Well what _were _you talking about?" Bra asked as a defense.

"I don't know anymore! But it wasn't..._that_!" Trunks shouted, and then finally noticed his hand had left its former position on the phone. "Oops, er Gohan?"

Gohan took in a relaxing breath, and tried to count to ten but only got to about 4 or 5 before finally speaking as cool headed as he was able. "Trunks, I think you should be aware that Pan is on her way to Hercule's dojo, and as you know that isn't too far away from your house. Just be wary ok?" said Gohan, not a least bit amused by the previous conversation on the other end.

Trunks could hear the tightness in the other half-Saiyan's voice and understood. "Ok Gohan, I'll be ready, oh and don't worry, Pan is a tough one, she'll be ok you know."

With that said, Gohan nodded. "I know that better than anyone Trunks, thanks, bye."

"Bye Gohan." When Trunks hung up, he was met with a very impatient looking Bra. Her arms folded and a look about her that Trunks dare not cross. "I swear Bra, one day your nosiness will get us both killed."

"Hey, it's not _all_ my fault! You're the one that told me to go talk to Dad!" Bra retorted and was about to add more when Trunks looked up suddenly. "What is it?"

Trunks grinned. "Guess whose here?" He walked past her, backtracking the way he came.

Outside, Pan landed swiftly, a determined look about her. She scanned the yard to find Vegeta in the same spot Trunks had left him. She stepped toward him, confidently. There wasn't anything anyone could do, or say to depress her now. She felt as though she could take anyone at this moment, even the thought of challenging the Prince of Saiyans didn't frighten her right now. Her wall of pride had been breached and she had sunk as far down as her pool of arrogance would allow.

If Vegeta sensed her, he didn't show it. Even when the small fighter stood only a mere five feet away, he still refused to acknowledge her.

She decided to wait it out; he would have to notice her sooner or later. After a good minute had passed the Prince finally opened his eyes but still refused to look at her. Pan took a deep breath and started, "Uh, Vegeta, Sir, do you-" her eyes were aimed at the ground, as she timidly kicked at the grass with one foot. "Do you know where Trunks is? I need to uh..." Pan thought about her next word, _"Talk"_ certainly wasn't the right word for what she wanted to say to him. _"Speak"_ was surely the correct wording for this situation, she concluded. Taking a grip on the direction of her current vision, Pan forced herself to look at the Prince and was about to continue her question when she heard faint footsteps on the grass behind her. Had she been looking at Vegeta in the first place she would have noticed his silent warning.  
---


	10. Or this

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Ten – Or this**

"So Pan, what's wrong? Can't you go at least one _day_ without seeing me?" Trunks inquired, as he tipped his head playfully, hands bracing his sides as Pan turned to face him.

Vegeta, the Saiyan training master, was seated on the grass only a few feet away, he snorted in disgust, apparently getting impatient with his son.

Trunks glanced away from Pan and at his father in annoyance, and then gently jerked his head. A gesture meant to silently send someone away.

Vegeta scoffed, clearly getting the point, while Pan stood sideways between the two, not taking her unreadable stare off the future heir.

As Vegeta trudged away he grunted and muttered something to himself. To think, he had sunk so low to have to move from a spot _he_ picked! Something like that was normally unheard-of, either that, or a very rare occasion. But he submitted to his son's wishes this time. It was, after all, going to get _very_ noisy, and Vegeta decided to spare his ears the sufferings he expected that the little lovers quarrel would cause. And this, he sensed, would take place _very _soon.

Trunks folded his arms across his chest and waited for Pan to say something...anything. He was starting to get the feeling he was in trouble. But the longer he examined her features the more he found it was more like, he was in _deep shit_.

"So..." Trunks scratched the back of is head nervously, a bit humbled with the thought of Pan's un-rivaled fury aimed at him. After all, Pan was never a person to handle things with a cool head. "How did you get here so fast? I just got off the phone with Gohan a couple minutes ago."

It was Pan's turn to cross her arms; her eyes didn't waver as she glared at him. She wasn't all too sure what to do with him, now that she had him here in front of her.

By now, the sky was beginning to shade into dark lavender, and finally, after a painful and uncomfortable moment for Trunks, Pan decided to explain herself, "I transformed. It was really easy, I had _motivation_."

Trunks faked a nervous laugh, and then sighed as his shoulders slouched. "Look Pan, I'm sorry if I upset you, I-"

"Upset me? Well if that isn't an understatement! First you say you want to take me somewhere, then you get all serious on me, when all I said was something about being confused!" By now, Pan was shouting with a balled fist raised.

At first, Trunks was mortified. Pan hardly ever shouted directly at him. He smiled for a split second. This was a definite change in her temperament toward him, good or bad; this proved _something_ was moving Pan to treat him differently. Trunks laughed inwardly, this was the perfect time to taunt her. He wanted to see just how far Pan would let her anger take her. "Well maybe if you could keep that temper of yours caged then you wouldn't be so blinded all the time, and you might not be as confused as you say you are!" Trunks shouted back, his fists hung at his sides. The tone he used sounded genuine, but his mouth cracked a tiny bit among his facade.

Pan was sent back as well, but stood forward again, her fist before her once more. "Do you want to scrap with me? Because you are heading down that trail and it's not pretty!"

Trunks huffed and folded his arms again, making himself look serious but in reality he was only acting. "That's your solution to everything isn't it? Fight and brawl your way through every situation, and then hopefully it will all work out somehow." He looked her square in the eyes, and she glared right back. The seriousness in Trunks' orbs were all too apparent, Pan noticed.

Pan growled, agitation filling her again as she tore from the unpleasant stare. She would have walked strait into, maybe _through_ Trunks, had he not stepped out of her way. "Blast it! Why do you always have to be right?" Pan growled again, and then took to the air in a raging miffed temper.

She didn't give any sign of looking back or saying goodbye. Trunks grinned and waved. A worthless motion in Vegeta's eyes as he watched the drama unfold before him and then warily approached his son, not entirely sure the young heir was in the right frame of mind. "Tell me, when was it I dropped you on your head when you were young? Why do you just stand here waving like an idiot?" Vegeta snarled, clearly embarrassed and ashamed by his son's meaningless actions.

"Oh Father please, you obviously don't know how to read her temperaments," Trunks replied, all too calm for the pure blooded Saiyan's taste.

Vegeta's face was blank as he nearly gaped at his son. He gestured in the direction Pan flew off to, and asked, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Trunks nodded briefly. "Exactly Father." He saluted mockingly and left a dumbfounded Vegeta to ponder over what he may have just missed that kept him out of the loop.

---

The shade, cool and refreshing from the, seemingly fiery sun. Pan loved it on hot days like this, in fact she couldn't think of anyone who didn't. It was finally summer break and she had found a peaceful patch of grass to take a nap on. Above her was a tree of some sort, she didn't pay too much attention to its breed, just that it was giving off its much appreciated shade. Below her was a mild creek giving off the slightest of cool air. She wasn't asleep, but instead, listened to the solitude. There were no sounds except for the passing of the stream and the chirping of some birds in the tree above her, indicating that she was surrounded by wildlife. And yet she had only ventured a few miles from her home.

Pan, the 1/4th Saiyan female with a temper yet to be matched, and small, her bloodline may be, but she was still proud to be apart of that warrior race. Today she wore something much different from her previous style of outgrown shirt and jeans. Instead, she sported the blue gi that she had recently received in the mail from Bulma. It was comfortable, but now Pan was regretting putting it on this morning, as it wasn't necessarily made for hot days like this.

But she soon forgot about that, and sighed in contentment, never was she so happy to greet summer vacation. Finally, she was able to escape from all that torture of trying to catch up. And in the end her final scores barely passed. Her eyebrows and tail twitched at the thought. That was the last thing she wanted on her mind, she just got away from that hellish place, why should she care about her stupid test scores! It's not like they were going to help her any, at least, not with the career _she_ had planned.

Pan growled and sat up, not at all happy about the past few months. She only had maybe half a year to relax after the shadow dragons were taken care of, afterward she had to start studying and cramming like crazy. She hated it, hardly ever was there enough time for her to train, and why couldn't she just have a life with no homework and no school for the rest of her life? After all, she sacrificed a lot to help keep the world safe. But alas, her parents wouldn't allow it, although, she could have a life of leisure, well, most the time, all she had to do was take up the title as champion of the world, she need only ask, and her grandpa would more than likely let her have that title. She figured that job wouldn't require much book learning, something she wanted to avoid if at all possible.

Pan sighed again, this time in a bit of depression. She was having such a nice day until now. She brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them. She stared at the slow but steadily moving water below and blinked. Then there was that _other_ problem. The ever so thought of, "Best friend who isn't a best friend anymore, but something else," problem.

She had always known of their strangely close friendship, relationship, or whatever it was to be called, but it was always an elusive subject. Something she'd never thought very long or hard about. Or when she _did _find herself daydreaming, there was usually always _something_ that interrupted her train of thought.

Thinking back on her grand tour of the galaxy, with only the three of them, Goku, Trunks and herself, they had always taken care of each other. When one of them were injured or captured, among other things, the other two would stop at nothing until all three of their trio was together again, safe and sound. Not to mention, Trunks would always jump into the line of fire, or knock Pan out of the way from an enemy's attack. She assumed Trunks had merely thought he could endure a blow easier than her. It never really occurred to Pan that he was simply over protective of her. In fact, now that she thought about it, after her little 'adventure' on planet Luud, it must have scared Trunks a lot when she was captured by that robot named Luud, though he didn't show it, he was indeed worried about her presence on the dragon ball mission. That was something that boiled to the surface before landing on that desert planet. When Trunks suggested they take her back home. She couldn't place the planet's name but it definitely wasn't her favorite part of the tour.

Pan didn't realize it at the time, but Trunks was just looking out for her, and he didn't want her to fall into anymore situations like with the previous planet. _Yeah but that also means he didn't think my fighting abilities were worth packing me around on the tour,_ her tail twitched as she contemplated the thought.

The more she thought about her trip with Goku and Trunks, the more she came to the conclusion that, _things were _never_ this _complicated_ back then,_ she thought eagerly. Pan couldn't decide if she wanted to see Trunks now or never see him again. _But that's silly,_ she concluded. Of course she wanted to see him, if anything, because she wanted to make her last and third wish. But for some reason, lately he had made her so...so angry. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he definitely did a good job at pushing her buttons. She used to think _she_ was the dominant one, always bossing _him _around, and maybe she was right, but anymore, it seemed to be the other way around. She found she couldn't order him around anymore, and another thing she found puzzling was the fact that when he decided to do something. He, indeed, did it, regardless of her objections. Take the couch scene for instance; Trunks had never attempted something like that, at least not that she knew of, and especially not with her.

"_This time of peace must do that to people, it makes them do crazy things," _Pan's mouth twitched in amusement at the thought. She was starting to sound like Vegeta, he'd always thought, and spoke his mind, of peace time as a weakness, when fully acknowledged.

Deep down though, Pan really _did _want to see Trunks again. For one thing, she was beginning to feel guilty about yelling at him, there was something else though, she couldn't place it exactly but she got the idea that maybe she just wanted to see him for no reason at all. "_That's so ridiculous though!"_ she told herself scornfully. She knew things were getting really strange when she started arguing with herself.

As if on cue, Pan glanced to her right, and up to see Trunks descend and land softly among the glossy lush grass. He grinned without a sound and waved innocently. Pan beamed at him at first, then launched herself at him from her sitting position, giving her quite a bit of speed, as Trunks was barely able to brace her tackling force, which he guessed was suppose to be her version of a hug. "Hey," he gasped upon impact. "Pan, I take it you missed me." He chuckled a bit before returning the embrace.

"Yeah I missed you!" Pan restated and took a step back to get a good look at him; he donned his own blue gi too. Pan smiled briefly, and then examined the skies behind him, looking for his guide as her tail waved back and forth excitedly. "How did you find me anyway?"

Trunks smiled pleasantly at her as their hands still clung to each others elbows in an interrupted and un-finished hug. "I stopped by your house and Gohan said you were out here somewhere. You weren't very hard to find."

Pan resumed her full attention to the newcomer and returned the warm smile. "I see, well I hope you plan to behave yourself this time." She gave him a sly look while releasing her light grip on his arms.

Trunks brought a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, well Pan-chan. I'll try, but truth be told, there's only a 45 percent chance of that happening," he told her as he grinned innocently yet wickedly at the same time.

Pan didn't know if she liked that look on his face, somehow it fit him perfectly yet she wasn't used to it...not yet anyway. It seemed to rouse something deep inside her that made her want to either, smack it right off his face or something else entirely, but she dared not explore that territory. She decided to wait and see if she wanted him grinning like that around her or not.  
---


	11. You'll find out

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Eleven – You'll find out**

The two Saiyans reclined beneath Pan's chosen tree, both observing the silence and the soothing breeze that passed through the valley that surrounding them. Trunks had propped himself on his elbows, while Pan leaned on her gloved hands in a lazy sitting position.

Trunks was seated on the grass slightly behind, and on Pan's right, a little too close for her taste, unnerving her, Trunks concluded by the way her tail jerked every five seconds or so. He watched her for long moments, but all the younger Saiyan did was stare blankly at the slowly moving current in front of her.

With his left hand, Trunks reached and cupped Pan's chin while he continued to gaze at her. Pan kept her face blank and emotionless; she didn't even appear to have acknowledged his touch. She held her vision directly in front of her, ignoring him even.

As Trunks watched her blink, he noted her tail snap with a sudden agitation. _"Oh how I bet she must be conspiring many different ways to twist my arm right now,"_ he thought playfully as he returned his hand to its rightful place, which was supporting his weight on the grass. Kami bless, I got my fingers back, he thought, amazed, as he almost raised his hand to count them.

He was still watching her when Pan inclined her head to fix her eyes to his in a blank, void glare, Trunks nearly flinched when she did so, it seemed like such a quick movement to him since she hadn't moved at all in over five minutes, at least.

As he observed her features, he seriously thought he was going to lose his fingers now...all of them this time.

Trunks expected her to start barking at him...or _something_ violent out of her, but instead she merely sighed hopelessly, sat forward, and stared at her hands that now hung in her lap.

Trunks fought the silent battle within himself, one side told him to attack her right then, the other was the smaller unit, which advised him against it with so many reasons why he shouldn't.

But she was helpless prey right there, the first unit said.

So easily it would be for him to take her up right that second and kiss her like he'd wanted to, unlike the one they shared only weeks before, again that was the first unit talking, the big part of the battle that was urging him to take action, it was winning.

It occurred to him in that very moment, among all the madness and confusion flowing through him, that he was such a hypocrite! Didn't he just tell his father not three weeks ago that he _wasn't_ going to push her anymore? Now that he thought about it though, he wasn't sure why he was taunting her, flirting with her even. He couldn't explain it, all he knew was, he just couldn't help himself anymore whenever he was around her.

As the seconds flew by, the battle was escalating rapidly and by now Trunks was having a hard time keeping up.

At last, he didn't know how, but by some miracle the lesser unit won the battle...sort of, there was an intermission of sorts, so the raging war had to be postponed for now.

He blinked. "What just happened?" he thought he heard Pan scream only a second ago.

"B, b, be, b...," Pan stuttered and clung to Trunks' right arm as she pointed at something to his left. For now, Trunks decided he didn't want to know how Pan got on that side of him without him knowing.

Trunks raised a violet brow and smirked at her terrified expression. He didn't sense anything, so she was either acting or exaggerating, he assumed it was the latter. "Why, what could Tiny Chaos be so frightened of?" he inquired mockingly as Pan scowled at him.

She would have smacked him, but he quickly followed her hand to the indicated beast. Trunks raised his other brow and exchanged looks between it and Pan "Are you serious?" he asked, putting a hand to her forehead to check her temperature.

Pan swatted his hand and jumped to her feet. "Either he goes or I go!" she shouted, implying Trunks was suppose to scare it off, as fear and anger filled her tone.

Trunks, very confused, stood as well. "Pan, it's just a bear, you're a million times stronger than him," he assured her as he stepped behind her and pushed her toward the immense black bear. "Go on, you need to face your fears."

"NO!" Pan snarled and twisted away from his prodding. "I'm not getting one inch closer to that thing!" the teen stated and pointed to the 'thing' with a tense and shaky hand.

Trunks gave her a look that said she was overreacting. He braced his hands to his sides and looked back at the bear. Its growl was almost a hum, indicating, it meant no harm, it was merely passing through.

Trunks' eyes went wide in a bit of surprise as he examined the animal. He smirked mischievously as he took a few steps and stood before Pan. She had closed her eyes tight and refused to move or look at the 'monster' that she hated. "Pan," Trunks said, trying to get her attention.

Pan peeked at him through one eye. "Is he gone yet?"

"No, _she_ isn't," Trunks corrected and motioned to the two cubs accompanying the huge beast. "You know, I bet she'll let us pet them," he grinned when he seen Pan's wavering eyes and quivering lip. Trunks knew she had a soft spot for baby animals, or anything "cute" for that matter. He seemed to recall a "cute" little lizard once on their grand tour, poor guy had a hole in his stomach, which Pan tried to fix with a bandage.

Pan's whine brought him away from his reminiscing. "N-no, I already told you, I'm not getting near that thing," the dark haired Saiyan told the older and looked up at him with a face that asked, 'Are you going to scare it away now?'

Trunks shrugged as if unfazed by her silent plea. He cautiously but casually walked over to the bear cubs and knelt to pet them. The 1/3rd grown cubs rumbled their ratification to the taller Saiyan, both smelling his hands, inspecting him for any food he might be hiding, before finally letting him pet their heads.

This was obviously unnatural behavior for a grizzly bear to let just anyone pet her cubs, but the only thing she seemed to be worried about was Pan and the uncomfortable vibes she was emitting.

The darker one of the two cubs, half growled, half squeaked its gratitude as Trunks rubbed its belly. "Hey com'on Pan, they like the attention," the demi Saiyan tried to coax her over as he scratched the other one's ear.

Pan's fists shook as her eyes felt watery. She wasn't sad, instead she was just mad at herself for letting this affect her so much, not being able to get near that 'monster' of an animal just because of a lousy nightmare. She was better than this, she'd faced down beasts much more intimidating than this. Nightmare or no, she was going to beat this. Slowly, she began to advance forward, she tried not to shake but her nerves wouldn't respond as she got undoubtedly closer to the black furred bulk with teeth.

Trunks frowned, looking at her trembling form. He stood as the cubs roared their disapproval, with their tiny, scratchy voices , it made them sound like they were crying.

The mother took this as a possible danger, and misjudged the problem to Pan as the giant animal approached her steadily. Pan froze in mid step, but that wasn't right, this wasn't a dream, she was _allowed_ to move her legs here!

The grizzly was only inches away, Pan could hear its deep breaths as it growled. All Pan could see in front of her was black brown fur, and more importantly, Trunks was out of view.

Pan faltered and took a shaky step back, "Tru-Trunks...," was all she could manage.

"Pan, calm down, she can sense your fear, you're making her nervous," Trunks told her, from somewhere beyond the huge animal.

"Well she isn't doing much for me!" Pan rasped quickly, her outburst caused the bear to roar with surprise, sending Pan to the ground onto her bottom with a yelp, terrified that she would soon be reliving her strange dream, she bent forward and wrapped her arms around her head.

The dark pelted 'monster' tilted its head in a bit of confusion, it only roared as a warning, only a fraction of what her powerful lungs were capable of. Her attention drew back to her cubs as they squeaked a rough bark when their new companion departed from them and went to stand near Pan. "Hey, what's all this Pan? She isn't going to do anything," Trunks reassured her and helped her to a standing position.

Pan hid behind him until the mother grizzly stalked her way across the plain opposite of the stream. She grunted and sneezed, her way of saying, these humans were odd...at least the small one was. The cubs whined and squeaked in her wake. Trunks assumed it was either a "Goodbye" to him, or a "Wait up" to their mother.

Once they were large black dots in the scenery, Pan finally decided to release Trunks of her "protect me" grip. Trunks only crossed his arms in response, a familiar stance lately. He was obviously waiting for an explanation.

"Just forget it! Its so stupid I don't even want to talk about it!" she shouted finally, after a moment of staring at the ground, ashamed.

"I'd still like to hear it, if you don't mind."

Pan growled and tensed her fists. "It's nothing!" she answered again and took off along the edge of the stream.

Trunks sighed, vexed, then began his long trek after her. He knew Pan wanted a few minutes alone, so he would take his time catching up.

When he found her for the second time that day, she was pacing back and forth in the shade of, not one, but two trees by the water this time.

"Pan...," Trunks started, he appeared disappointed for some reason as Pan looked at him briefly, then returned to concentrate on her pacing.

Trunks shook his head in dismay and a little amusement as he dropped, crossed his legs, and leaned his chin on both hands, attempting to make himself look as pitiful as possible.

He couldn't remember how long he'd sat there, watching her pace, but she eventually came around and plopped onto the grass next to him, it could have been a deja vu except they faced away from the water this time.

"You know...you still owe me a wish," Pan said, surprisingly calm after being so angered before.

"Huh?" The demi Saiyan canted his head. "Where did that come from?"

"You know, you said I could have three wishes, I only used two."

Trunks nodded soberly. "What is it then, your third wish, you know how we Shenrons hate to wait."

Pan grinned. "Yeah, but first, I wanna know, do I get to wish for _anything_?"

Trunks smirked, looked away, then with a slight nod of the head, he chuckled. "If it is within my power to do so, then go for it."

"Ok get this, you'll probably never hear this again in your life, but I'm gonna wish for a wish with the Dragon Balls," she, herself nodded, closed her eyes, and was still grinning out of her own genius.

It took Trunks a little longer than expected to actually register what she said. "Well?" Pan asked when he still housed a puzzled look.

"Uhm Pan, I don't quite know how to tell you this, but," he scratched the back of his head nervously. "There _is_ no Dragon Balls."

"Pah," Pan waved a hand suavely and rolled her eyes. "Maybe not on _this_ planet there isn't."

"But Pan, we have no clue where Shenron took them, both him _and_ Goku flew off on a trip to who knows where, besides, we agreed never to use them again," said Trunks, almost pleading as he trailed off.

Pan made a face and narrowed her eyes toward him. "Wow, you're really slow today...I didn't _mean_ Shenron, I meant Porunga. We used them before remember?"

Trunks looked up, searching his memory banks. Sure he remembered, but would the namekians _let_ them use their Dragon Balls just because Pan wanted to? That was hard to answer. Trunks sighed and looked to the hopeful person beside him. "Fine, but if they don't let us do it then I'm off the hook with these blasted wishes already, deal?" he reached for a handshake on the agreement.

Pan eyed his hand and looked at him suspiciously. She pondered her options, she _could_ use her last wish to make him desist with the romancing, but then, she wouldn't get her three wishes from Porunga, and she could work on his attitude later. That decided it, she didn't hesitate to seal the deal with a handshake. She wasn't, however, able to predict what Trunks had planned at the moment of clasping their hands. He jerked his arm and drew her closer. The following was easily surmisable.

Warmth rushed through Pan's body like a torrent. But, nothing else happened.

Of all the nerve, Trunks was toying with her! Their faces were so close, if one of them so much as flinched, their noses would have touched.

"Trunks, if someone saw us," Pan tipped her head down as his hand kept her from lowering it further. Now her eyes were even with his chin. "They might get the wrong idea. They might think this was a little _more_ that friendly."

"Who's to see? And at the moment, I only wish that one person would get the_ right_ idea," Trunks resolved, he didn't take his eyes away from her.

The warmth his body emitted threatened to engulf her as she thought she was experiencing something a cake might endure in an oven. She could hardly argue with that logic, after all, they _were_ in the middle of nowhere. But then if her parents thought to check and make sure Trunks had found her, then she would have a lot of explaining to do.

Trunks saw the uncertainty in her eyes and released her, both physically and mentally, for his seemingly mesmerizing spell forbid her to resist or oppose him with force.

She could have sworn she heard his heart beating, since they, in fact, hadn't moved away from each other yet. Or maybe that was just hers that was threatening to surge from her chest. Confusion swarmed throughout her mind and body, there were feelings she hadn't yet learned control over, Pan concluded. Now the only thing she desired at the moment, was to put distance between the both of them. Personal space was one of the distractions, the other was the unbearable heat, and it wasn't just because of the sun hanging overhead.

Everything needed to find a balance of some kind if she was to even begin to think properly.

Finally, she found her bearings, slid back, and made it to a standing position. Her legs shook nervously and her face flushed fiercely.

Trunks, however, cracked a smile and joined her, his stance smug as he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well then, how about I go see my mom about our departure, she can lend us a ship and we can leave for Namek tomorrow?" he suggested cooly, acting as if nothing had happened at all, either that or he was trying to cover it up. In any rate, Pan was just glad that stimulating experience was over and done with. Oh sure it may have been exhilarating at the time, but it wasn't worth the discomfort that the situation presented her with.

Trunks looked at her expectantly, snapping her back to reality. "Ye-yeah," the teen stammered.

"Good, you can go home and talk to your parents about it tonight, I'll prepare the ship and supplies," he started to walk away when he glanced at her curiously. She blinked at him, flustered and dizzy. "Something tells me...it's going to take some convincing to talk your dad into this, but that isn't my department now is it?" he asked more as a statement.

"I'll take care of it," Pan replied and waved a tired hand, keeping her emotions in line was to much work.

Trunks smirked and faced his destination. "If you say so Chaos," he sparked his energy lightly just enough to hover. "I'll come back tomorrow and see how you 'took care of it'."

Shifting to brace her hands on her sides, she switched her hand at him. "Shoo," she tried to look smug and arrogant, but she assumed Trunks saw through that facade, as he smiled at her, again, the same one that made her feel giddy when he first showed up more than an hour ago. She smiled back, although, callow and simple, she mentally scolded herself after Trunks surged his energy and the air around him erupted, therefore making his way back home.

She breathed in relief and silently vowed to get her revenge...later, definitely later.  
---


	12. Why are Parents?

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Twelve – Why are parents?**

By now Pan wasn't even sure how the whole situation began. The conversation started out easy enough, but then for some reason, it took a slight detour when Pan mentioned something about taking a trip alone with Trunks into space.

That wasn't such a complicated subject, was it? Well for Gohan it was. The second he heard Pan utter her request only two words seemed to register in his mind. _Alone_ and _Trunks._

"Out of the question!" snarled Gohan, the coffee cup he was holding shattered in his grasp as he stared down his daughter making him appear as a deer gazing into headlights.

That was only the start of the argument. All Pan could recall after that, was a contest of comebacks and a great deal of shouting on both their parts.

Once things calmed down enough to actually pass as a normal discussion, Pan took her seat next to the kitchen table, where she had decided to catch her father and ask him about her little adventure to Namek. She also chose a time when she'd have him all alone, since Videl went out shopping some time after Pan got back around noon.

Gohan sighed and sat down as well. "Don't worry dad, nothing bad is going to happen," Pan assured him as her cheeks flushed slightly, knowing exactly what he was worried about.

With another sigh Gohan poured himself a new cup of coffee. "Pan, you know I would love to take your word for it, but I would feel much better if someone else went with you," he pleaded; now he looked at his daughter with eyes that wavered with worry.

"Dad! You left me in his lap!" Pan slammed her hands on the table and repeated for emphasis, "_in his LAP_!"

Gohan remained calm not wanting to relive their previous argument. "Yeah but Goten was there as a chaperone, that was different."

"I hate to break this to you dad but uncle Goten is NOT a chaperone! He doesn't even pass as three's company!" Pan growled.

With yet another sigh, Gohan massaged his eyelids. "We'll talk to your mother about this," Pan's face brightened as he pointed at her. "But I'm not making a decision yet."

The teen stood and hugged him excitedly. "Thank you Papa."

Gohan smiled and hugged her back, then pulled her away to look at her sternly. "That didn't mean I said yes Pan," he told her just as seriously.

Pan rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes Papa," she replied as her arms still hung over his shoulders. "Don't worry, Trunks is responsible, he'll take care of me up there. Heck he's almost as old as you dad."

"Pan," Gohan warned, his tone annoyed.

"Kidding!" Pan raised her hands in defense, clasped them behind her and stepped back.

Once Videl got back from shopping, Pan was going through her solo training exercises outside while Gohan remained in the house looking over some business documents along with the coffee stained newspaper which happened to be in the line of fire when his cup shattered.

Pan finished up her forward punches and went to help her mother unload the car. "Hey mom, took you long enough, oh and Papa wants to talk to you," she rattled off while Videl lowered the top on the convertible and Pan searched the many grocery bags for a certain item.

Videl just gave a classic, "Huh?" and took what she could as she made her way to the front door. "Talk about what?"

"Oh, you'll find out," Pan mumbled looking back and rummaged through more bags, finally she beamed. "Aha!" she unwrapped and thrust the random flavored lollipop into her mouth.

When she came to the kitchen entrance she stood there, blankly staring, as her parents already seemed to be in deep debate. "Pan, honey, come sit down," Videl told her. "I need to speak with your father,_ alone_," she then led Gohan into the living room, which was strait across from the kitchen. Pan did as she was told and sat down at the kitchen table.

"I don't like it. It was fine when dad was with them, but this is just wrong." Gohan explained, as he stood strait and glanced from his wife to Pan. "I don't see why someone else can't go with them."

"Gohan, think about it, Trunks is 29, he knows the difference between right and wrong," Videl smiled at him and continued, "Pan needs to start making her own decisions – not that she hasn't been doing that all her life – but besides that, I think this will be good for her. Lately she's been too pressured with school, and I think she needs to get away from everything and just have fun for a change." she told him, then gave him a sly grin. "Surely Trunks wouldn't do anything you wouldn't do," she poked him in the shoulder forcefully and he had to flinch and chuckle in reply.

Gohan sighed and agreed with an unsure gleam in his eyes, he wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that or not. "Ok, ok, I'll let her go, but you have to talk to her."

"About what?" Videl asked, her arms folded as she raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I just want her to be prepared for anything," he looked to Pan, sitting at the table as she flexed her hand, an energy ball appearing and disappearing in her grasp. "You're her mother," Gohan muttered.

"Yes, and you're her overprotective father," Videl replied as she made eye contact with him before walking over and sitting in a chair at the side of her daughter. Gohan said nothing in reply and followed suit to sit on Pan's other side.

The energy ball she had been playing with dissipated and she glanced from her mother to her father with curiosity. "Am I being teamed up on?" she asked with a smirk.

"You can go," her mother announced and was nearly clocked by the table rearing as Pan jumped to give her a hug.

"Thanks Mom, I knew you'd talk him into it," said Pan as she heard a grunt and went to hug her father. "Sorry, forgot you were there," she drawled and grinned.

"Yeah, right. Well you ladies have some things to chat about, so I'm off, and don't you leave until tomorrow, got it?" Gohan ordered and held a finger, indicating his seriousness.

Pan saluted mockingly and winked curtly. "Yesir General, er sir."

Gohan nodded as if all of the madness made sense. "Very good then," he said, closing the front door behind him.

Pan retook her seat at the table and leaned her cheek on one hand, she knew a lecture when she seen one, and this was definitely going to be one. She yawned and after a fashion she just started tuning her mother out and nodded now and then.

The rest of the day was uneventful, Pan called Trunks and told him the trip was a go. He swore, although, he muffled it over the phone, Pan could still make out what he said. "Trunks? What's wrong?"

Trunks muttered something to someone on his end and then gave the phone his full attention. "Oh nothing Pan, I just lost a bet with my sister, that's all. I thought for sure Gohan would blow a gasket or something before he'd let you go," he explained and glared at his sister who was now counting the money she had just won.

"Oh that, yeah he got pretty mad, we're out one coffee cup but Mom talked him into it."

"Oh really?" Trunks' expression brightened as he smiled evilly at Bra and rubbed his thumb and index finger together.

Bra frowned and threw the money at her brother; she stormed off without a word as Trunks snickered. "Can always count on my buddy Gohan," said Trunks, now being his turn at counting the cash.

"You're mean," Pan chuckled.

"So are you," Trunks replied, holding the phone with his chin and shoulder. "So you'll be here tomorrow right? The ship should be ready before you get here."

"Got it, see you then, oh and can we bring Giru with us? I haven't seen him in forever," Pan whined and prepared to hang up.

"Yeah I'll get him, Bye Pan," Trunks hung up and left to work on the ship.

---

-Day of the launch - Briefs house-

"Mom where is the Pan proof launch gear?" asked Trunks, while doing a routine maintenance check of the ship. "You know what happened last time."

Bulma looked up from the terminal where she did her share of the preparations. "Yes Trunks, I made sure this baby had Pan proof everything this time."

Trunks stepped out from under the spacecraft and glanced around the area, hands on hips. "Is that so? Well I don't see a Pan proof Giru, what did you do with him this time mom, don't tell me you're still giving him upgrades."

Bulma smiled and finished her checks. "Actually, I have, but I'm done... I think he's in my main lab, probably chowing down on some of my other projects, Kami knows he loves to eat the important stuff," she said as she made her way through the launch site and into the house with Trunks following.

"Yeah he's good at that," Trunks laughed. "In fact the very first thing he ate when we found him was the dragon radar, man it can't get much more important than that."

Bulma nodded and smirked when they walked through the doors to her lab as Giru rushed over to hug Trunks. "Trunks! Trunks here, giru giru."

"Hey Giru, my mom hasn't rearranged your wires too bad has she?" Trunks chuckled and examined the robot.

"Giru, giru," the tiny robot replied as if contemplating the question for an answer.

"Oh com'on, if anything I've made him more energy efficient." Bulma retorted and left the room. "Oh and you should probably go set him up in the ship, you don't want to forget him," she trailed off and the door closed automatically, drowning out anything else she might have said.

"Trunks seems happy, giru, giru." said Giru when they were alone.

Trunks smiled and crossed his arms as the robot began to hover. "Oh really? Well you will be too when you hear who's coming with us on a trip into space."

"Who Trunks? giru, giru."

"Hm, I think I'll make you suffer, you'll just have to wait and see," Trunks told him and led the way back to the ship. "Come on Giru, we leave in two hours."

Giru hovered there for a few seconds more, as Trunks stood just outside the door waiting, then the robot followed with a question, "please Trunks, tell Giru who it is."

Trunks grinned and looked at his metal companion. "Sorry Giru, you're just gonna have to wait."

---

AN: I know I know, half of you are going to say, "Gaud I HATE Giru! He's so irritating!" Sorry, he may be little but he's a part of the crew now!


	13. Departure?

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Thirteen - Departure?**

_She was pretty good_, the lavender haired man noted. _Since when did she get so good at this?_ Suddenly a jerk to the ship rocked him out of his thoughts. _Never mind._

"Oops, my bad, I can pay for that," was Pan's resolve.

Trunks sighed and applied a hand to his face, then slowly slid it downward. "Pan, maybe I should dri-"

"No way, I got this under control. Besides, what would happen if you were incapacitated for some reason and I was left to pilot the ship on my own. What then Genius?" Pan inquired, clutching the controls possessively.

_Incapacitated?_ "Ok wait, why am I incapacitated?" Trunks wondered aloud, while unknowingly gripping his armrests a little tighter.

"Oooh," Pan drawled. "You know, things happen," she laughed. "Especially in my family."

"Pan! Watch what you're doing!" Trunks barked and instinctively blocked his face as a small meteor nearly hit the bridge.

"Calm down, I can talk and drive at the same time," the teen assured him. Then almost as if flipping a page, she was on to something else, "say, am I even going the right way? You're suppose to be navigating for me."

"I refuse to work under these conditions!" Trunks defended as another space rock was heard barely scraping a part of the ship that he dare not think about.

"Pan, please let me drive, I was fair, I gave you a chance right?" Trunks reasoned, now his features were pathetic for a man his age. And Pan had no idea that he was planning to get on the floor and beg if she didn't comply.

Pan made a pouting face, but it couldn't seem to compete with his at the moment. "Fine," she slowed the engines and switched seats with him. That was one of the modifications to the ship; the seats had been changed from the three delta, into two parallel to each other.

Relief and utter contentment swarmed over Trunks as he buckled his new seatbelt. "Ok Giru, it's safe, you can come out now," he called over his shoulder.

Giru hovered over a moment later. "You scaredy cat, where were you?" Pan hissed and bonked the robot lightly.

"Giru, Giru, Pan crazy driver," as usual the robot didn't realize what he said until it was too late.

Trunks laughed and swiped the little robot out of harms way before he felt Pan's wrath. "Giru!" she growled. "Trunks, let go of him, he's got it coming this time!"

The pilot chuckled and patted Giru on the head. "No, sorry Pan, he's with me."

"Giru, Giru."

Pan sent the robot a glare that made Giru beep every two seconds followed by a "Giru".

"I'll get you Giru. I know where you sleep," she muttered and reclined in her chair. Soon she had calmed down enough, and she began thinking about their very odd departure from Earth...

----------------

_Flashback_

----------------

"Bye everyone, don't have too much fun without me!" Pan shouted from the ship's ramp. After hugging her Mom and Dad she decided it was time to go, regardless of the little details...A good example was Trunks. Whom continued discussing last minute preparations with Bulma.

"Pan, don't you think you should say goodbye to your Grandma and Goten first?" Gohan asked in a fatherly request which also hinted a command or two.

Pan's shoulders dropped as she walked back down the ramp. "Ok, but they better get here soon. There's been too many delays already."

"What delays?" Trunks inquired as he and Bulma joined the Sons.

"Well first of all, Giru! Why did he have to eat all that equipment?" Pan crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the round robot, who was now hiding behind Trunks' shoulder. "You should be punished, you little metal muncher."

"There they are. It looks like Goten's driving. And I've learned from experience that all Son's are crazy drivers, with Gohan being the only exception," Trunks said, earning him only a hard scowl from Pan.

"You're talking about me aren't you?"

"Why-why do you say that Pan?" Trunks sweat dropped and seemed to find something in the sky which caught his attention as Goten and Chi Chi joined the group.

"Pan crazy driver! Giru, Giru!"

"Giru!" Pan roared and was about to give chase when someone suddenly hugged her fiercely.

"My little Pan, I can't believe you're going to leave me all alone again! Promise you'll come back as soon as you can!" Chi Chi cried and yet, remained hugging her Granddaughter.

"Aww Mom, that's not fair, I thought I counted as _something,_" Goten whined.

Apparently Chi Chi didn't hear him, since she was still crying about _her _little Pan.

"Huh Grandma, I'll never be able to go anywhere if you don't let go of me," Pan reasoned but didn't _physiscally_ try to resist the woman's crushing pressure which usually rendered the victim to suffocation. By now Pan was used to it, so she no longer resisted this ritual of squeezing.

"Oh...Of course. Well have fun Pan," Chi Chi released her death-er-love grip and pulled out a hanky as Goten placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

"Hey, see you later Trunks, better you than me...Uhh, Again!"(this would be the second time he skipped out on going to space) Goten shouted and waved with his free hand as the Trio _finally _boarded the ship.

"Whatever you say Goten, oh and try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone," was Trunks' reply before the door hissed shut in front of him.

Trunks' statement made Chi Chi give Goten a stern look which seemed to magically cure her sniffling, and caused Goten to shrink back with nervous laughter. "D-don't know _what_ he's talking about..."

From the ship's observation room, Pan and Trunks watched with amusement as Goten received yet _another_ lecture from Chi Chi, coupled with a few bumps to the head with the help of conveniently placed frying pan. All the while their families were speedily getting smaller and smaller.

----------------

_End Flashback_

----------------

"Phew, glad that's over," Trunks leaned back, finally able to relax.

"Great! Does that mean I get to drive again?"

"No way! You'll probably lead us into another astroyed field," he told her. "This baby is strictly on auto-pilot for awhile."

Pan made a face. "I know where _you _sleep too."

"Is that suppose to be a threat?" Trunks scoffed and began looking through previous map files on the terminal, along with monster encounters from their last journey through space.

"Well I don't know, you're smart, you figure it out." Pan leaned her chin on her hand, bored.

Trunks pulled his attention from the terminal to look at Pan curiously. "I think it would be more of a threat to _you_ than to me Pan. Trust me, if I'm having a dream or a nightmare, just leave me alone," he paused, attempting to emphasize his seriousness. "Lately, From what my Mom tells me, I go berserk when I first wake up from a dream, or at least until I regain complete consciousness."

"Oouuu," Pan mocked, prolonging the 'O' sound. "I'm scared now, got anymore scary stories? Because I'm not falling for that one," she yawned.

Trunks smirked at her, either in admiration of her fearlessness or in amusement of her recklessness. It was funny, she wouldn't be the same without one or the other.

After getting a suspicious look from Pan, Trunks stood. "Speaking of sleep, you should see our new living quarters," he said and crossed to the elevator.

Pan followed, however, still watchful as she did so.

There were four floors, Pan noticed. The top floor, or the 4th floor, was the observation room, the 3rd floor was the bridge, the 2nd was the living quarters, and the 1st floor would be the dinning hall.

In a matter of seconds they were on the 2nd floor, which opened up to a small hallway from the elevator that soon split into a T hallway, one lead to a room as did the other.

"Wow, you guys changed a lot of stuff," Pan remarked as Trunks opened the door to one of the rooms.

"Yeah, well we weren't expecting to bunk with a _female_ on the Grand Tour, so that's why we only had one room in the last ship," explained Trunks.

Pan awed at the expanse of her new quarters. This was bigger than her room at home! "It's huge!" she proclaimed. "Maybe I _don't_ know where you sleep."

Trunks nodded, satisfied with her reaction. "That's why the hallway is so cramped; it was to give the living quarters more room."

After a moment, Trunks left her to get accommodated.  
---


	14. Half Asleep

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Fourteen – Half Asleep**

Was it a dream? It seemed real, but then, if it wasn't a dream, wouldn't she know for sure if it was or not? That's what made dreams so real...you didn't know it wasn't real until you woke up.

Pan stumbled over a chair but didn't fall, as she continued roaming the kitchen among her sleepwalking. Something about space travel caused her do this; in fact at one point in their previous journey, she managed to fill the trio's living room floor with Goku's socks, and underwear from out of his duffle bag. Why she was going through _his_ clothes, the elder boy hadn't a clue, but her targets must have been random due to her sleepwalking, since she had also been into the mustard...Trunks still wasn't sure how Goku weaseled into getting the bedroom cleanup duty while Trunks got stuck with the kitchen.

At present, Pan had already been in the bridge, but auto-pilot was strict about it's users, so she could do no harm there. After that, and the dinning room,(-kitchen-) she was on her way back to the 2nd floor through the elevator, but not before pressing a multitude of buttons. How she managed to do all this _asleep_ was a mystery, but it was doubtless that it took less than three hours to complete her rounds.

There was only two places on the ship she hadn't searched...The 4th floor, and the _forbidden_. But then, there _was_ no boundaries with the unconscious Pan, hence the underwear incident.

In her dream, _Pan noticed she had paws...black paws. And she was in the middle of a rain forest; it was dark, and she could see the leaves moving with the wind. The sky could hardly be seen through the thick canopy, but she noticed it to be dark blue through the patches she did see. She disregarded her strange velvet form and pushed her way through the surrounding underbrush..._

On the 2nd floor Pan walked up to the door connecting to Trunks' room. The sensor blinked and chirped, therefore admitting access.

_Pan stepped, claws and pads molding with the earth as she entered a clearing with water overtaking the middle. Pan paused, ears and tail flicking before cautiously approaching the freshwater pond..._

The room was pitch black, Trunks slept soundly, undisturbed, by the sound of the door opening and closing, while Giru remained in standby mode on a desk next to Trunks' bed; with one light blinking every five seconds.

Pan crossed the room and stood right next to Trunks, who was still fast asleep and facing the other direction.

_Upon reaching the pond, Pan peered into the water, only to see her reflection, but this time she didn't pass it off so easily. What she seen staring back at her was a black cat, a panther to be exact. She gazed curiously at her reflection for mere seconds before realization finally hit. Her feline features quickly soured, coupled by a hiss which soon intensified in volume, ultimately resulting in a high-pitched roar._

A scream erupted throughout the ship. Pan found she had lost her balance and fell backward, she had only enough time to blink, and not enough time to register her surroundings before another outcry of surprise was sent through the space vessel. Trunks was instantly on his feet and had shot two ki blasts, which would have hit Pan had she not of fallen backward after waking up.

Pan, still in shock, began backing up in a slow crab-crawl. Everything was so confusing, she still didn't understand why she was in there...and why was Trunks shooting ki blasts and yelling at the top of his lungs?

Trunks stood there, motionless, apart from breathing for a grand total of five seconds before he finally blinked and got his breathing under control.

By now Pan was a good five feet away, still on the floor and trembling with confusion. What happened to all her courage? Things have growled at her before, and she just growled right back, so why was it she was so terrified of Trunks right now?

He turned his full attention on Pan, somehow knowing exactly where she was. His eyes were focused and controlled, surprising for someone who just woke up.

He took a step toward her and concern rushed to his face as he watched Pan back away from him even further, his features were impossible for Pan to see in the pitch black room. "Pan...are you ok?" he asked gently and raised a hand in an attempt to calm her.

Trust outweighed her better judgment, as she stood cautiously. "T-Trunks, are you done freaking out?" she asked him and took a step herself. She wanted to hug him for reassurance if nothing else.

The half Saiyan smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Pan yelped and leaped to hug him, relived that he was back to normal. "Don't do that ever again Trunks, for a minute I didn't know what you were going to do!" she told him, desperately gripping him around the waist, for fear she would lose the _good_ Trunks if she let go.

He returned her embrace, but not nearly as tight. Still, he wasn't complaining about the outcome.

After a moment, neither said anything, but Trunks started looking around his room, surveying the damage he had done. It wasn't that he regretted the results of this incident, but he really could have injured Pan with those unstable energy blasts, and that scared him more than anything else right now. "Pan, why are you in here? It's not that I mind, but I could have seriously hurt you a minute ago."

Meanwhile Pan had closed her eyes, she was thinking of nothing else except clinging to the person that had nearly blasted her. She just wanted to stay like this until everything in her mind stopped spinning around in confusion. She blinked at the sound of Trunks voice, then tilted her head when his words finally sunk in, all the while her head clung to his chest.

A long moment passed and Trunks tried to meet her gaze, but to no avail, he could hardly see her outline much less her face.

"Pan?" he echoed when she still didn't answer. By now Trunks had grown impatient with the fact that he couldn't discern what she was thinking.

Before Pan could protest, Trunks had lifted her into a cradle position, and he waited again for her to say something, but Pan remained silent, all she could think of was that she felt spellbound, as if Trunks had told her something that enthralled her to obey.

Without an objection from Pan, Trunks crossed to the door, which beeped and complied to open. He stepped out and the door closed, leaving a very confused little robot to hide underneath his table. "Giru."

What was going on? It was like being mesmerized, and Pan couldn't make herself say or do anything, almost like there was something deep down telling her that if she _did_ do something, it might cause the half Saiyan to go berserk again. But then another part told her not to be afraid of him right now, however it was beyond her comprehension right now to conclude why; therefore with the combination of those two thoughts and the fact that he was holding her so gently compelled her to simply take no action at all.

After the brief elevator lift, it opened up to the 4th floor. The observation room was more like an open -see through- dome, with only one pillar placed directly in the middle, which severed as both the elevator and a control panel.

Trunks stepped out, as he did so, illumination from the stars spread to their faces and Trunks found his answer. Pan's features seemed to tell him that she was still in a daze of sorts, and she had no intension of talking as of yet.

When Trunks set her down, she felt a slight pang of disappointment, but it passed quickly as he sat down beside her.

Trunks decided he would be patient and wait for her explanation. As he waited, he cast his eyes on the slowly passing stars and planets.

It hadn't even occurred to Pan that she should explain everything ranging from the dream, to the shouting. To be honest, she was still trying to catch up with the present, she was only just now noticing the background of blackness, dotted with celestial bodies.

As Pan examined her surroundings Trunks looked at her again and noticed she was not wearing her bandana; her hair hung by her cheeks, somewhat impairing her vision. With a slow movement, Trunks reached and combed her hair back, all the while watching for a reaction, but he got none.

Pan ignored his current activities and remained fixed at the emptiness of space, she was in deep contemplation about his outburst earlier. She knew for sure that she'd seen him like that before, but she couldn't place when or where.

She thought about it more, and was so close to remembering when suddenly Trunks broke the dead silence, "You should keep you hair down more often." It was hardly loader than a whisper but it was enough to scramble her thoughts.

Pan looked at him, totally disregarding his comment. "Trunks, I've seen you like that before, but I can't rememb-" It was strange, it came to her in that very instant as she was talking.

Her face paled with the thought and Trunks leaned closer with a worried look. "Pan? What's wrong?"

"No," Pan whispered at first, then shouted it again as she gritted her teeth while her throat ached with heartache. "NO!" she screamed for the third time and hugged him desperately around the neck.

At this point Trunks was counting this day as being very productive with Pan, all except for the energy balls of death, that was definitely not a plus. But that was enough daydreaming, Pan was shaking profusely and Trunks thought he heard her sob. "Pan, all I caught was 'no', you're going to have to tell me what's wrong," he said while combing her hair with one hand.

Between sobs Pan had managed only one word, "Baby."

It was but one word, however it left Trunks horrified as a thousand dreadful memories came flooding back.  
---


	15. Knockout Spar

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Fifteen - Knockout Spar**

Trunks blinked with a start; he wasn't used to being hugged so much so suddenly, especially by Pan and twice in one day no less. He had heard what she said, and he understood why she would have drawn such a conclusion, but he found no real danger in what she meant, so he thought it better to distract her instead of letting her dwell on her anxiety. "Wow Pan, I wasn't expecting _you_ to give _me _a nickname so soon, and I gotta say it's a little cliché, but I'm not picky," he mocked.

After a moment, Pan's sobbing had died down enough so, that Trunks could pull her away and get a good look at her.

She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face, as well as hoping her voice wouldn't somehow be affected when she spoke, "how can you joke about something like this?" she sobbed again, only to realize that talking just made the pain worse.

Trunks frowned. "Pan, why are you crying? I'm right here, nothing's wrong with me," he reassured and helped wipe her eyes.

Pan's face hardened as she swatted his hand away and jumped to a standing position, tail whipping madly. "I know the presence I felt back there!" she snapped as her voice cracked and her breathing became irregular.

Trunks didn't reply, but instead added a stern look to his already concerned features. That was uncalled for on her part and he was only trying to help. He'd hoped she could come to that conclusion on her own.

The sullen quarter Saiyan broke eye contact with him. "It- It wasn't you...That presence wasn't you."

Trunks stood as well, and with a slight cant of his head, questioned, "Pan what are you trying to say? What that you think Baby was controlling me?"

Pan nodded, causing Trunks to smile at how innocent she seemed at times.

She still wouldn't look at him, but Trunks lifted her head by the chin so she would have to. "Pan, that's impossible. Don't you remember? Kabito Kai cleansed everyone, including me, not to mention that was a long time ago."

It took awhile, but Pan was able to get her breathing under control before she replied, "then why did you attack me like that?"

Trunks sighed and released his hold, allowing Pan to move freely again. "I thought I told you Pan, if someone wakes me up, shouting at me, or screaming in your case, while I'm dreaming or having a nightmare, then I go berserk for a few seconds, or until I regain full consciousness."

Pan thought about his words for a minute, and Trunks assumed he had resolved the situation, apparently not. "But how come you never did this _before_ we ran into Baby? You never did anything like that all throughout the Grand Tour, and all three of us slept in the same room, so why is this happening now?"

With another sigh, Trunks shrugged. "It doesn't happen very often, you just _happened_ to scream while I was having a nightmare, this is only the third time it's happened in the last two months, and the other two times were due to my father because he wanted to train early in the morning, and as you know, he isn't the quietest person around," he explained while raising an eyebrow. "And you know, I'm still waiting for a good explanation as to why you were in my room to begin with."

By now, Pan's eyes had dried and the ache in her throat had lessened considerably. "I had a dream too, and I must have been sleepwalking," she guessed.

"And? What was it about?" The tension had obviously been lifted, Trunks confirmed and sat back down, pulling Pan by the arm, down with him.

Pan didn't pay much attention, she was too occupied with remembering her dream. "Well I remember something about a panther...and leaves. What about yours?" She looked at him curiously.

Trunks shook his head. "Sorry, I don't remember my dreams." That was an outright lie, but he couldn't tell her what his dreams were about, he himself could hardly bear to think about them. Pan didn't need something else to worry about, Trunks decided.

"Oh," Pan said, a little disappointed.

Suddenly an idea struck Trunks after a long silence. And it was a good idea since it didn't appear as though either one of them would be going back to sleep any time soon.

Trunks stood and walked to the terminal. After pressing some buttons, the lights in the dome were activated.

Up until now, their clothing hadn't been very visible, but it turned out they both decided to wear their gi's to sleep. Convenient for what Trunks had planned. "Are you ready for some action Pan?"

Pan squinted at the lights and went to stand next to him. "What did you have in mind?" she asked while gaping at the multitude of buttons.

"You'll see." Trunks smirked and pushed one last button. "Shields on."

After a number of buttons and lights blinked, the computer complied, "_Acknowledged_." Immediately, a yellow energy spread from the terminal and along the floor, then up and over the dome, as well as enveloping the terminal itself.

Pan watched in awe. "What-what is that?"

Trunks gave her a strange look. "It's a shield, so we can spar without damaging the ship," he told her.

"Oh, but are you sure it can take the pressure of _our_ spars?" Pan inquired and hopped from one foot to the other, testing it.

Trunks scoffed and walked to a spot that would serve as his warm up area. "Mom used Dad's energy from his Super Saiyan 4 form to power the generators. It's also been programed to _absorb_ the energy we inflict on it, so it never runs out," he explained and began his pushups.

Pan looked at the computer, impressed, then stepped to her own place to warm up.

Once they finished and prepared to face off, something occurred to her. "Hey Trunks," she started with a wry smile, hands on hips. "What would you say to another bet?"

Trunks nearly rolled his eyes at the idea. "Pan, do you ever quit? That's how this whole thing started."

Pan put a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Hm, you're right, how about this time if I win then you only give me one wish and if you win then I give _you_ one wish. Meaning I have to do whatever you want and visa versa if I win. Sound fair?"

"Gee it sounds like I got really suckered the first time," he mumbled to himself. But nodded in agreement. "Fine, it's a bet, but _when_ I win I get as long as I want to think of my wish," he demanded, taking his stance.

"Whatever. So what are the rules for our bout?" Pan questioned, mimicked his stance.

"None, we fight to the to the knock out," Trunks replied.

Pan whistled. "This won't be as easy as last time," she announced grimly.

"It won't be easy at all," Trunks sneered, and powered up to Super Saiyan with a load screech of energy.

Pan laughed slightly out of excitement as she too peeked her energy to Super, slower but she could now call upon its raw power at will.

With a sharp step to the right, Pan started off by flanking him and shooting as many ki blasts as she could manage before sensing his attack and preparing to either dodge or block, waiting for her instinctive reaction to decide.

She chose block. Trunks struck, head on. Knocking Pan backward, but since she blocked his assault, it didn't do much damage.

Trunks remained where he was and in his stance. He would bide his time, letting her have the opening attacks for now.

Pan growled, but her tail lashed with anticipation. She relished spars like this, because even if she lost she would gain experience and get better. Combat: it's something she could say she was good at, and it's where she believed she truly belonged.

Her strategy this round would be, try long range attacks first, then close in, and if those don't work, start landing fouls. She leaped forward and ducked as Trunks swung and missed, leaving Pan to slid to the side of him and spun, neatly sweep kicking him.

It almost sent Trunks to meet the floor but he caught himself easily with one hand, and followed through, tackling a recovering, and unsuspecting Pan.

Trunks stood with Pan in a sleeper hold. "Just go to sleep and it will all be over,"

"Dammit Trunks!" Pan rasped, while struggling to be freed from his grip.

Trunks frowned. "Hey ease up on the swearing there would you Pan?"

"Damn isn't a swear word, it's just something you say when you're pissed off!" she snarled and sparked her energy, forcing him to release her, thereafter she phased in and kneed him in the groin.

Trunks dropped to one knee in agony as Pan quickly drew back when he managed to cuff her cheek. "Holy shit Pan!" he howled and set one hand on the wall, balancing himself as he regained his composure.

"Well now, I'm pretty sure that was a swear word," she stated boastfully and rubbed her sore cheek with the back of her fist.

Trunks growled and staggered to stand. "That was a foul, and you know it!" he accused, still recovering from her last sleazy assault.

Pan took up her stance and scoffed. "Funny, I don't recall ever stating the rules for this bout, this is an anything goes fight to the knockout...remember?"

Finally, Trunks was able to stand up straight, seemingly regrouped and as if un-effected by the previous blow. "Fine, you're right, since anything goes, then I'm not holding anything back."

Pan inclined her head to the side in utter dismay. "What? You were holding back?"

Trunks arched forward with his arms bent and flexing at his sides, he began increasing his power level rapidly until an explosion erupted around him.

Pan covered her face with an arm as the smoke cleared and was able to see his approaching figure. "No way- You did NOT just turn Super Saiyan 2! Trunks you jerk that's cheating!" only after she said this, did she realize how stupid she must have sounded.

"What was that Pan? Anything goes remember? Now just give up or I'll have to knock you out and regardless of what you just did, I still don't want to have to do that," he halted when both could see each other's face among the dust and smoke that remained in the air.

Pan growled and flared her energy, outwardly stating her answer.

Trunks sighed, perplexed and exhausted by her stubbornness. "Let's get this over with then-"

Before he could finish, Pan phased to the left and kicked at one of his shoulders. Trunks stepped and leaned away, dodging her attempted assault perfectly, he then grappled her extended leg and pitched her at the energy shield.

Pan, now on one arm and one knee with her other arm braced against its foreleg, prepared to stand. "Man, how did he do that?" She growled. "There's a headache, not a good sign," she murmured and stood, a bit wobbly as she held her forehead with one hand.

"Come on Pan, if you don't give up I'll have to knock you out the hard way, Kami knows I'm not going with the sleeper hold again," Trunks told her, standing not ten feet away.

Pan grit her teeth, dismissing the pain in her head while leaping at her opponent with nothing but blind frustration and her own unbridled will.

The last thing Pan saw was Trunks' dejected expression, then her vision went cloudy and dim.

Trunks struck, sparks literally surging from his fist and throughout his body. He watched hardheartedly as Pan hit the ground and rolled from impact, her hair regained its black tone and rendered her unconscious.

Trunks went to her, his normal hair color returning as well. He lifted her attentively, a soft expression lining his features as he cradled her.

"Computer, shields off," Trunks ordered and sat down with his back against the wall and Pan in his arms and lap. The computer complied with the shields powering down soon after. "Sheesh, it's a good thing I brought these," he mumbled and drew a small pouch from his pocket, then proceeded to take one of the three Senzu beans from the bag.

But before he could give it to her, sirens and lights started going off with a radical display of red. Trunks looked up, puzzled and startled. However the infernal racket had no effect on the unconscious Pan.

Trunks stood, still holding Pan but dropping the Senzu beans as he did so. "Computer, what seems to be the problem?"

After a multitude of incessant beeping the computer answered, _"Intruders have breached the hull. Their coordinates are uncertain."_

"What?" Trunks shouted in a rhetorical question, only to get the same response from the computer. He glanced at Pan, still asleep, when he remembered the Senzu bean, he didn't give it to her yet!

Almost in a panicked state he rushed to pick it up, but an explosion from the elevator quickly averted his attention again. When he looked to observe the cause, he seen some very unpleasant beings, and they were armed, obviously not a friendly bunch.  
---


	16. Abduction!

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Sixteen - Abduction!**

The scene was a stand off. The alien people studied their targets. Trunks remained standing, he watched them from a sideways position with the idea already in his mind to set Pan on the floor. It was all too apparent that they were here to fight; their aimed laser guns explained that wonderfully. And instead of trying to keep track of them all, Trunks kept his attention on one: The leader.

These alien pirates were not all of the same race, Trunks noted. And the one in charge was indeed not the tallest of the battalion, but he _was_ muscular and he had an obvious authority over his ranks; this was apparent by the way he held himself among his troops. His race must be a short, stubby breed, Trunks concluded as he observed his adversaries warily.

The standoff had nearly become unbearable when suddenly, a smaller version of the leader stepped into view and started rambling at the leader while completely overlooking the situation at hand and flipped through some papers in his hands, he was apparently a researcher of sorts. "Brother, there is no record of a ship like this. No one in my records show a model like it, and besides that it has hardly, if any, speed capabilities to speak of. It is by far the slowest ship I have ever-" the researcher gasped when he finally turned his eyes to see what the rest of them had been staring at all this time. He was so surprised by the sight that he lost his ability to speak.

The bigger of the two cleared his throat. "So, Little Brother, tell me, I didn't think this species came all the way into space," he croaked as if he had a bad cold, and jerking his gun at them.

The smaller, more intelligent looking of the two brothers couldn't help but continue to gape at the Saiyan/Human couple before he managed to stutter: "Y-y-you're correct, t-t-they do not venture this far from their home planet because well-" he fumbled with his papers, attempting to find the planet's name with no success. "T-t-this goes f-far beyond the boundaries of my studies! I was not at all prepared to run into something this rare! This is an incredible breakthrough. Brother, think of the research! And it's a male and female pair no less!"

By now, from Trunks point of view, the smaller alien had been doing nothing more than jumping up and down while screeching at the bigger alien. Since they were speaking in another language Trunks hadn't the slightest idea of what was said, but his instincts told him enough to know that they were not here just to stare at him all day.

When it appeared that the smaller alien was about to start rambling again, the bigger lifted a strict hand. "Would they sell?" he questioned in his alien tongue.

The smaller one still had an amazed look as he glanced back to Trunks who still clung protectively to Pan's limp body.

The small brother nodded to the big one, which suddenly caused him to grin as he too looked at the couple. "How much?"

The smaller alien frowned. "But Brother, my research..."

His so called 'Brother' waved a hand. "Nonsense, you can study them before we sell them."

"Some things take awhile to study," the smaller mumbled.

The leader stepped forward, pushing his brother back with little effort. "All right men, I'm going to be taking prisoners this time. Shoot to stun, it looks like we only have one to deal with so concentrate your fire on him." He motioned his gun hand, causing a wave of soldiers to form a front line in before him, guns aimed and set to stun.

Little did they know that their _kill_ setting would do no more to Trunks than put his arms or legs to sleep for nothing more than seconds, and they would only _hit_ his arms and legs because that's how he planned to block the shots.

By the time Trunks had laid Pan on the floor and pushed his way through the first line of them, the smaller brother jumped at his older brother, holding his gun at bay. "NO Brother! I forgot to mention, the males, they are extremely protective and some are dangerous, especially when it comes to their mate or children! Please Brother, stop now and he might calm down!" he pleaded but was shoved to the floor.

"Enough! 2nd, 3rd wave, surround and distract him, shoot to kill!" ordered the older sibling. He then scowled down at his brother.

"N-no!" the younger whimpered when they switched their guns to the kill setting.

"Parkale! Or should I say Useless One?" The leader grabbed his brother and lifted him to a standing position. "Retrieve the female and get back to our ship, NOW!" He threw his sibling in Pan's direction and started shooting at Trunks, who was deep in the fray, leaving Pan unprotected.

The small alien, Parkale, regrettably but quickly drug Pan to the elevator.

As more and more of his men fell, the older one began backing to the elevator where his brother had exited only seconds before his 30th man went down.

Finally he called the retreat and his remaining 20 men followed.

Trunks stood, sweating and breathing hard, not to mention numb all throughout his limbs. He wouldn't have been so tired but he had spent most of his time blocking. He didn't want to kill them, but most of them walked right into the cross fire, and their guns _were_ set to kill. It also didn't help matters that he used most of his energy sparring with Pan and that drained him more than anything.

He wiped his forehead and noticed the numbness was turning into a dull pain. Then suddenly, it hit him, the reason they retreated. He spun to look and his worst fear was realized with a harsh blow to his heart.

They took her, she was defenseless and they took her! The one person he was suppose to be protecting! He couldn't even do that one simple thing!

His teeth and fists clenched; it burned, it raged, it spread like wildfire from his heart through his entire being. He felt as though he was about to erupt from his restrained fury until something deep inside him snapped and without knowing he had skipped Super Saiyan and transformed immediately to the second Super Saiyan level. "Paaaan!" he roared and powered up until he realized the ship was about to collapse without the shields up to absorb the energy.

He breathed furiously for a second, he knew he was shouting and powering up in vain, but he also sensed that those space pirates were already gone even before he had figured out what they had taken from him.

He cursed himself for not realizing it sooner and rushed to the bridge. With any luck maybe he could track their movements somehow, or if nothing else, head toward the nearest planet.

---

"Pilot!" The leader burst into the bridge and the pilot spun in reply. "I want you to leave a sonic particle trail for the ship we just raided." He raised a hand when the pilot was about to speak. "No questions, just do it!"

When the pilot nodded and went to work, the leader turned to look at the two researchers that had been standing behind him. "Give the human tranquilizers," when it looked like they were about to argue he scowled. "I don't care about the side effects! Just keep her asleep, and when you're not doing research on her I want her under heavy guard, that means I want the newest most powerful laser technology surrounding her cell block...Understand?"

Both nodded and ran off to inform Parkale, who was currently in charge of the Human-Saiyan, Pan.

When they reached the part of the ship that served as their lab, Pan could be seen lying on a half-vertical table unconscious, with only a couple tubes tied to her for reasons unknown except to the scientists. Aside from that, they had only given her an oxygen mask, and she was sleeping soundly.

The duo of researchers gave Parkale the message from his brother, and he nodded sadly. "Prepare the sedative then," he told them grimly. "Doesn't Tiidore know that this could kill her if we have to give her too much for too long?"

"In fact I do Parkale," the leader said behind his sibling. "But I believe she will make it to our destination before that happens."

Parkale looked at his brother, curious. "Destination?"

"The Slaves Arena," said Tiidore.

"B-Brother! Why there?"

"Because these are no ordinary humans, and no slave fighter has ever escaped the arena. And the only way they can leave is if they win the tournaments by fighting. But all I care about is selling her there," Tiidore explained.

"But we've separated the pair, and besides the fact that they would have sold a lot better together, I wanted to study their mating customs more than anything," Parkale moaned sadly.

"Well, since you're the expert, tell me, if I give the male a chance, will he come after her?"

"Undoubtedly!... But I don't understa-"

"I've left a trail, and if what you say is true, then he's walking right into my trap," said Tiidore, clearly amused with himself.  
---


	17. Slaves Arena

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

Chapter Seventeen – Slaves Arena

Her vision was foggy, and her head felt like it was moving to and fro along with a constant rumble as she regained consciousness. Pan moaned and rubbed her forehead and eyes, trying to clear the blurriness and ache. "Whe-where am I?" she asked in hopes that _somebody_ would answer her.

"A place called Slaves Arena," said a voice from another cell.

Pan sat up and looked around, but she still couldn't see straight and her surroundings weren't helping, since the walls all around were in constant motion. With closer observation Pan noticed they were in fact made up of yellow electricity, but with every ten seconds they changed to blue and then back again, surging and sparking now and then. "Slaves Arena? What's that? How did I get here?"

"That's something I wouldn't know. I was led here with the rumor that I would find someone worthy to fight," the voice said again.

"But I don't understand, last I remember, I was sparring with Trunks and then-" she stopped when she could remember no more and held her aching head. "Ah, ouch. I feel like I've been drugged."

"Hm, that could be the case, that's what they sometimes do to me before they pit me up against someone in the arena," sounded the voice.

Pan stood, wobbly, but she got to her feet. She looked to where she thought the person might be located. It was a little blurred but she could see through the bolting wall. Their eyes met and both recognized each other in that instance; except, neither of them could recall names at the moment.

"It's you, you're that guy my grandpa fought with, that one time on that strange planet with that stupid, let me repeat _stupid,_ ruler Don Kee! What was you're name again?"

"Ledgic," he replied. "And you were related to the boy, correct? Where is he anyway? I wouldn't mind a rematch with him."

Pan frowned. "I don't know, he left about a year ago."

"So why are you here? Surely you didn't come to fight in the tournament..."

"No, I was traveling with Trunks, we were going to planet Namek, but like I said, I'm not sure why I'm here, or why Trunks isn't here with me..." Pan saddened and stepped back, then sat down on the metal floor.

"Trunks," Ledgic contemplated and Pan nodded. "He must be the one that tried to help you out of the magnetic shield before. To be honest, that is what these walls are made of, except, much more advanced. It neutralizes any type of energy and then sends a very unpleasant jolt back," he explained.

"I wish I knew what happened. And I hope he's ok," said Pan numbly, not really paying attention to his expiations.

---

Sure it _had_ occurred to him that it wasn't just a coincidence that they left a trail, but he had to follow it. Pan was probably confused and scar- Ok well maybe not scared, but most likely confused.

If it was a trap then he would just have to plan an escape when the time came. All he cared about right now was finding Pan, everything else was secondary. Trunks pushed the engines to their max and hoped Pan would be alright until he arrived, but something told him that she wouldn't be so lucky this time.

---

About a day had passed and Pan had thoroughly explored her quarters. It began with her one cell block and had one small hallway in a corner that led to the privy, which every cell had been installed with, it was also apparent that the latrines and hallways were carved into the building, while the sparking walls outlined everything; so even if she broke the concrete, there would be a very unpleasant shock on the other side.

She also noted that on either side of her, were other cells, one with which Ledgic occupied, and the other, well the creature this cell inhabited was not small, on the contrary, he must have easily stood 10 feet high on his hind legs and he was enormously wide. His breathing was rough and rumbling though. He almost seemed to be in pain.

The area on the forth side of her cell, across from her hallway, seemed to be the place that they took the prisoners, or put them back in; a door of sorts. On the other side of this 'door' there was a hallway that stretched down past all of the jail cells with three levers in front of each cell. These levers were marked, but Pan could not understand the alien letters.

The creature growled in the cell next to her. She looked and studied him as he started pacing.

His forearms were long and drug on the floor, while his face resembled a wolf, he had no fur to speak of, instead he had brown, scaled skin, and instead of ears he had long, ram-like horns. He had a sad look to him, with scars lining his body, caused by old wounds coupled with a few new ones.

A very large collar clung to his neck, while wrist buckles were fixed to his four limbs. Chains rattled as he moved and laid his eyes on Pan, thoughtfully for a moment.

Pan found herself walking up to the wall that separated their cell blocks. The creature didn't move as she canted her head curiously. "How did you get here big guy?"

The creature lifted his head higher and attempted to sniff the air, then suddenly, as if getting his answer, came face to face with the small Saiyan that seemed to intrigue him; this was a little hard for him since he was so tall, but he bowed to her level and simply stared at her face, searching...

Pan felt a heavy pang of pity for this creature in her heart. He seemed so peaceful and gentle for something of his size, and muscle. "You don't belong here, just like me, you were brought here by force," she said sadly.

The creature sneezed, purposely, and regained his height. Now seeming highly intimidating in Pan's eyes, as she now had to step back to see him fully. "Huuuh, nice monster wolf, you're not mad are you?" she wasn't sure why she asked that, but now she was grateful for the electric shields.

He growled, but not at her, because he soon looked at the hallway, teeth gleaming as the growl intensified.

Pan also looked to the hallway and saw two aliens stop at her cell and one at the creature's. One of them, apparently the jail-keeper, pulled a lever in front of her cell, causing the walls surrounding her to enclose and envelop her in a shield that seemed painfully familiar. It shocked, it scorched, it stung all over, and all she could do was cry out in agony as the same alien brought a small magnetic platform and slid it under her raised form. The shield attached itself to the platform and now the jail-keeper could transport Pan anywhere.

Pan heard the creature roar and clash its powerful bulk to the floor, _why_ she hadn't a clue, but he was obviously not happy about something. Maybe they were doing something like this to him as well, but she couldn't spare another thought on him, she had to first somehow figure out how to stay conscious through all of this.

"Just stay calm, you're going to be fine! Save your energy for the battle!" Ledgic called to her desperately, as they passed his cell and continued down the hall.

The third alien must have been calling the shots, since he led the way and the jail-keep followed with Pan on the platform. She couldn't have noticed any other details, like where they were going or what they were passing, because she was still constantly being shocked. She thought to transform to Super but she couldn't concentrate at all. The pain was horrible, and she just wanted to scream forever, but all she could manage was a few short shrills.

She wasn't aware of it, but another being had joined the group, it was Parkale and he was giving the one in charge an earful. "Look, Rawfer, I don't care if you _are_ the owner now, my Brother put me in charge of her well being and I am telling you this is _not_ for her well being! I demand that she be set back a month before fighting!"

"_Excuse_ me, but you're _brother_ departed hours ago," said Rawfer, the slave owner. "Honestly Parkale, you obviously don't understand my way of making a living, new blood means a better turn out. Besides, I stop the fights before my slaves die...most the time, especially when they're as expensive as her, so go find a seat and enjoy the fight, I'll take care of the rest," he patted Parkale on the back and led the jail-keeper out of the dark dungeon and into an expanse of a brightly lighted area.

Finally, relief. Pan opened her eyes and noticed she was on her knees and her vision once again blurred as she looked up. Soon she could hear cheering and the dull sound of an announcer, but could still not understand the language. Her eyesight became clearer and now she could see that she was in a dome, of even more electric energy, beyond it was bleachers with crowds of people.

The ground she sat on was naught but sand, and then there, standing parallel to her about 20 feet away, was the creature, breathing heavily, and sneezing in blind exhaustion, he lined Pan up for a charge.

Pan gasped, she didn't want to fight him. This was all wrong. She wanted to help him if anything. "No, come on now, I don't want to hurt you big guy," she soothed while reaching out with her right hand and progressing forward slowly.

The creature roared and surged toward her furiously, as if something prodded him to attack.

Pan jumped and dodged his assault, but he regrouped quickly for a monster of his size. He leaped and clipped Pan's pant leg, ripping a piece of cloth away effortlessly.

She blinked with a start, but landed unscathed and studied his movements as he dropped the piece of her pant leg and growled in agitation.

Pan began circling him slowly in hopes of confusing him. He barked at her and shook his head, but soon settled down enough so that she was able to close in and lay a hand on his neck.

He was growling, but that too lessened as Pan stroked his dry scales. "There, see I'm not so bad, and neither are you," she said and smiled when he gave her a look that seemed to say: 'I'm ok now.'

The calm moment was not to last though. Suddenly booing could be heard from the crowd behind the yellow magnetic dome. The announcer was heard again and only seconds later the creature burst into another rage, with Pan as his target again. She could have sworn she seen his collar glow before his assualt.

To her dismay, he had decided to catch her left shoulder as his next meal. Although he didn't actually rip through her flesh, his jaws were in fact lodged into her shoulder.

The creature's collar sparked and he burst into a hiss. The next thing Pan knew, she was airborne with a horrifying deep rooted burn in her left side. He must have decided to toss her instead of eat her for some reason.

Landing hard on her back, she could see the red liquid painted across her left side; and she was mortified not just by this, but by the creature, because it was walked towards her, as well as blood dripping from his jaws, _her_ blood she concluded as tears flooded her eyes. All she could think of now was who was going to save her, she surely couldn't save herself since she was a hairline close to either balling in pain or flat out just fainting out of loss of blood.

When the creature towered over her, she whimpered, tears washing her face as he lowered his head, but much to her surprise his features had changed again and was about to like her wound, when suddenly the ground below him sparked and he was quickly scooped up by a magnetic shield, causing him to roar and screech in pain.

Pan's attention was averted from him to her own burning agony as she cried profusely when she was moved onto a stretcher and carried out of the arena. She watched as daylight switched to darkness again, and then she was asleep.  
---


	18. Whatever it takes

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Eighteen – Whatever it takes**

"I told you she would be maimed! Why didn't you listen to me?" Parkale shouted at Rawfer while Pan was rushed off to a medic.

"Silence! I didn't let her die. Now that should be enough out of you...unless you have forgotten, if I don't receive the other half of this bargain, then _you_ become one of my slaves. Now if you'll excuse me, Doctor, I have other matters to attend to," Rawfer replied, and Parkale huffed, then left to see to Pan's recovery.

---

It started out as a far off singing, then it fazed into a car horn, next it was a repulsive siren; this was the actual sound, but when one is first waking, things always seem to sound different. Pan found she was lying on her back and once again in her cell, except now she had a bed. _It must be something you earn after getting maimed in the arena,_ she thought and all too quickly noticed the gritting soreness in her left shoulder and whimpered as she sat up.

The small Saiyan looked to Ledgic to see that his attention was focused on something down the jail room's hallway; as if expecting something to happen.

Pan looked up to see flashing lights, while guards raced down the hallway, all except for one; this one stopped and stood next to the levers in front of Pan's cell.

Pan tried, but still could not understand his language. "At my post. Proceed Captain," he said into the com link on his wrist.

---

Trunks stood over an alien corpse. His ship exploded behind him, but it didn't faze him.

After crashing into the landing bay with his ship, Trunks had removed a sword from an alien soldier's grip and ran him through with it, along with a number of other soldiers that stood in his way.

Trunks marched forward, with his hair golden and his weapon bloodied, any alien soldier that saw him quickly remembered that he had an appointment elsewhere.

One alien guard was, however, not fast enough, because Trunks caught him and pinned him to the wall with his free hand. With his sword, he aimed the tip of the blade at the guard's head. "Where is she?" Trunks growled and shook him when the guard started to spazz out of terror.

Just when Trunks had run out of patience, something lit up to his right. He looked and dropped the alien. (Who promptly stumbled away.) Trunks ran to the lit doorway; it split into two paths, but only one was lit with yellow lights. He followed that one.

There was no resistance as he followed the path. Every time he came to a split path he followed the one lit up. It was all too obvious that this was a trap, but he didn't care at this point. He had already crossed the line of no return by slaughtering just about every soldier he came across.

These aliens were scum to him now. Before, he didn't want to harm them, but taking Pan was the last straw. Now he couldn't care less about their well being, and was going to prove it.

---

Someone on the other end of the guard's com link rattled off an order and the guard shakily grabbed one of the levers, sweat running down his face as he did so.

Ledgic scowled at him. (And the lever the guard was about to pull.) The warrior jerked his head to yell at Pan, "Get up! He's about to lower the-" he didn't get a chance to finish; the guard had already lowered the shields, but was run through nonetheless by Trunks' blade in a brilliant display of speed.

Regardless of the hate and ruthlessness he showed toward the defenseless guard, Pan was ecstatic to see him here. Here to save her, she knew it, except, as she watched him, she noticed a dark aura about him as he pulled the sword from its latest corpse.

Trunks looked up, the lights ended here. His face suddenly brightened as he glanced to see Pan struggling to a standing position. The dark aura left him and he abruptly dropped his sword at seeing her. "Pan!" he shouted and with only a few paces, stood with his hands encircling her shoulders, however, he didn't touch her for fear she was injured by the sight of her bandaged chest.

His features were expectant as he powered down and waited for her to do something. She stared at him for a few seconds, double checking whether she was dreaming or not.

Forgetting about her wound, Pan snapped out of her daze and hugged him, causing her shoulder to flare horribly.

Just when Trunks returned the gesture, Pan howled in agony as Ledgic beat his fists on his cell wall. Sparks flew as they seared his hands. "You fool! Get out while you can!"

Trunks looked at Ledgic, alarmed both by Pan's outbreak and the alien's shouting. As Pan dropped to the ground and griped her arm, Trunks turned to see the slave owner grinning as he switched the lever back up, therefore bringing the shields back up on the cell block, and trapping the pair of Saiyans as planned.

Trunks, not entirely understanding the severity of the situation, narrowed his eyes at the owner, whom laughed hardily and made his exit.

The half Saiyan examined the cell walls momentarily, but soon turned his attention to Pan. She was lying on her back, sniffling as tears lined her cheeks while she stared at her shoulder.

"Pan," Trunks said sadly as he kneeled next to her.

Ledgic cursed in aggravation. "Imbecile! You could have escaped!"

Trunks glared at the alien warrior and stood to point at the walls. "How was I supposed to know this would happen?"

Ledgic scoffed and crossed his arms. "Your affection for the girl blinds your good judgment. You can't tell me you didn't know this was a trap to begin with."

Trunks scowled but set his eyes to the floor. He knew he was being reckless. "You're right, I was blinded, but she's safe, and that's all that matters," he said.

"That is not something guaranteed for very long in this place," retorted Ledgic.

Trunks ignored him and sat down, supporting Pan's head with one hand, while the other slipped a Senzu bean in her mouth.

Within seconds of consuming the bean, Pan could feel its effects and sat up, completely healed and energized. She beamed and grasped Trunks around the neck. "I wasn't sure you'd come, I didn't know what happened, I was so confused, and then they threw me in that horrible arena and-" she was silenced when Trunks pulled her from the grip she had on him, then he gave her a look that generally meant: Be quiet.

Well, that was just something Pan had a hard time doing, especially when her emotions were raging like this, because talking was simply her first and foremost outlet. The second was mauling things, but that obviously wasn't an option at the moment. Then the third and final one was crying, and she only did this when the first two weren't available.

Now concerning what followed, I can't say there wasn't kissing and crying on both sides. But Pan mainly had crying on top of her list of things to do right now, while Trunks focused on kissing her hair and forehead. He even managed to persuade her into a couple on the lips, with little to no resistance, since Pan was sobbing from some deep harbored relief with the fact that he was here, and that somehow everything would be ok now. And if they knew they had an audience, they apparently didn't care.

Ledgic turned away with disgust, and sounded a, "humph." Why should he care if they just threw away their chances of escaping? They seemed perfectly happy where they were. He decided he would ignore them for now, or so he thought. As he looked away, he saw that the scientist, Parkale, had come to observe the scene as well. Apparently, he was taking notes, and found their interaction a little too interesting in Ledgic's mind. Something here was odd; Odd and disturbing.  
---


	19. Routine

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story.**

**Chapter Nineteen - Routine**

The scene seemed to be frozen in motion, or at least that would be the best way to explain it.

The two Saiyans were engaged in what was confirmed to be their official reunion. The scientist stood, flipping through files and records. And Ledgic was making a point to keep a suspicious eye on him.

This went on, and for a moment there seemed to be no end in sight for this development. At least, that is until Ledgic decide to interrupt, "if you don't mind," he said coolly. "But I thought you'd like to know, you have an observer."

The Saiyan couple looked at him, startled. "What do you mean?" questioned Trunks, just before glancing to see Parkale, who was right outside their prison cell.

Scowling, Trunks walked over and stood before the small alien, with the shield being the only thing separating Pakale from a certain miffed Saiyan. "What do you want with us?" he asked.

Parkale cocked his head, but then looked to the end of the hallway where guards yelled a warning and prodded a creature.

Rambling and shouting an irritated protest, Parkale stepped out of the way as the cell walls closed in to give the main hallway more room for the creature. Trunks had to step back as well; otherwise he'd have been shocked when the wall closed in on him.

The creature hissed and growled its discomfort as his collar sparked at his neck. Before he went into his cell he cleverly nudged a guard into one of the walls. The guard lay unconscious and twitching as the other guards laughed and closed the creature in his cell.

Pan went to face him, as he sat with his head down. "Aww, What did they do to you?" she wiped her eyes and asked the creature, not really expecting an answer.

Trunks stood next to her, a questionable look on his face. "Pan, why are you talking to this thing?"

"I am not a thing, I am a Trentore and my name is Kezz," spoke the creature. His voice was rough and deep and his breathing was labored.

"Wha-wha-what! You can talk? But why didn't you say anything before?" Pan fell backward in amazement, while Trunks just stood with his mouth hanging open.

Kezz looked at her soberly. "I generally don't say things just to be saying them."

Trunks began to chuckle, slightly out of nervousness but slightly out of amusement as well. "That is unusually logical for a creature of your size."

"Are all large creatures meant to be silent where you come from?" Kezz asked him, but didn't wait for a reply. He looked at Pan sadly. "I am sorry for hurting you before, I didn't mean to, but do you see this accursed thing around my neck? It injects some sort of substance that causes me to go berserk. I cannot control myself when that happens."

Pan stood up again and shook her head. "That's ok; I could tell you didn't want to attack me."

Kezz glanced at her bandaged shoulder, although relieved, he was confused. "Are you already healed?"

Pan followed his gaze. "Oh, yeah I'm fine now, because well," she paused and looked to see that the scientist was still there. She thought it better not to explain. "It's a secret, you understand right?"

Kezz saw Parkale and nodding at Pan, he collapsed on the floor to rest. "In answer to what they did to me, nothing. If you remember right, I was not injured after our fight, so I went on to fight more opponents until I lost, that is how these arena battles work here," he told her.

Turning to Trunks, Pan gave him a worried look. "You do have a plan, don't you Trunks? I don't want to go back into the arena again-"

Trunks shushed her as he watched Parkale give orders to a guard. Trunks couldn't understand what was said but it was obvious the scientist was giving some sort of instructions.

When the guard complied, Parkale made his way out of the prisoner dungeon.

The guard stuck his tongue out in Parkale's direction and made a raspberry sound as he backed up to the wall next to the levers, preparing to take a nap, causing Pan to think that some of these aliens were actually sort of funny.

Now Trunks faced her. His eyes were unsure, for he wasn't certain what to tell her. "Pan, I- I hadn't prepared for this exact outcome, but I did tell Giru to get off the ship and hide until I gave him a signal."

Pan frowned. "But why would you tell him to get off the ship?"

Trunks scratched his head timidly. "Well I uh, I sort of blew it up..."

"What? How- I mean why did you do that?"

"Well when I crashed into the hanger the ship skidded and that caused the metal to heat and then that heat reached the fuel tanks shortly after I jumped out with Giru. Then I told him to go hide and that's when they attacked me," Trunks explained. "But I brought the Dragon Radar and the Senzu Beans," he said in a tone that also implied: 'So it's not a complete loss.'

Pan could only thump her forehead, this was not normal. Where was her Trunks and what did this imposter do with him? "Trunks, what has happened to you? You always have a plan!" she shouted, but _she_ wouldn't have called it shouting, no, that would come later.

"Hey easy Pan, I'll come up with something, trust me." He placed both hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her.

"But… how? Our ship is gone," she mumbled sadly.

"True, but If we can figure out how to escape from this cell then we can steal one of their ships," answered Trunks.

Pan looked at the sparking walls. "That could take forever..."

"Or it could never happen at all. No one has ever escaped this place. The only way out is to win the annual Tournament," spoke Ledgic, whom apparently, was listening to the conversation.

Trunks looked at the warrior with a wry smirk. "Then I guess we will be honored with the title of being the first to do so."

Ledgic scoffed. "Let's see it then."

Trunks looked at the levers and began pacing. "I'll figure this out, but I need time."

Ledgic sat down on the floor and crossed his legs; he then closed his eyes in meditation. "Don't worry; you'll get plenty of that."

---

Three days had passed, and Trunks still hadn't thought up a way to escape, but they did come up with a routine. It consisted of mild training, meditating, eating, but mostly sleeping, because they had to conserve their energy incase either of them had to fight in the arena.

Their _Mild Training,_ as it were, involved one of them practicing their punches and kicks while the other blocked. (Since they couldn't dodge) And then they traded off. The purpose of these exercises was only to stay fit incase they would be stuck there for a long while.

_Meditating_, one of Pan's worse drills, she hated it, absolutely hated it! She had no patience for it. But Trunks' theory was that this simply proved that she needed it more than anyone else… Ledgic agreed.

_Eating_, the food was horrid and it was scarcely enough to keep them alive for any long period of time. It was now obvious to Pan why she could see Kezz's ribs. At first she just thought that that was simply what his species looked like, but after closer inspection of how much food he got, it was evident that he was badly emaciated.

_Sleeping_, like meditating, Pan had a hard time making herself do this for an extra amount of time during the day. And now it was harder then ever, since the bed she had earned was removed after the guards saw that she was no longer injured. (This was obvious since she could spar without a problem.)

---

-Day Five-

During their meditating hour, Pan both rejoiced by jumping up, but also frowned when she seen who it was that interrupted by shouting an order. It turned out to be Rawfer, the Slave owner himself; thus explaining Pan's frown.

Trunks sighed, exhausted by her impatience. He stood to give Rawfer a hard scowl.

Rawfer merely chuckled and waved a hand at a guard to pull one of the levers.

The guard did so, causing the entire cell to explode into a thick fog, while the magnetic walls changed their color to red and discharged, keeping the gas contained to their cell.

Pan covered her mouth in vain and dropped to one knee. "Trunks, what is this-" she started but soon found that her tongue was not performing the right functions to speak.

Another second and she was asleep and Trunks was on his hands and knees, he was barely clinging to consciousness as he gave Rawfer one last glance and the Slave owner sounded something in his alien tongue. With the last of his strength, the half-Saiyan set himself next to Pan before collapsing from the effects of the sleeping gas.

---

It seemed like the hundredth time, Pan concurred, as she woke up after going to sleep against her own will, _again_.

Still groggy, she looked around. Trunks sat, bent forward, in the farthest corner of the cell from her.

Pan approached him cautiously and, after kneeling next him, she was about to inquire of him what had happened, but before she said anything, Trunks looked at her, sullen and weary.

Pan reeled with a start, but after a bit, she gathered her courage and touched his shoulder gently; something was wrong and she didn't want to make the situation worse than it was. "Trunks? What's wrong?"

A moment passed and he didn't respond. Pan saddened and moved back a little; she hadn't realized how close she had come to him and she thought that might be the problem. (Which would be odd if it was.) But that didn't seem to have effect on him either.

By now it didn't appear as though he would ever reply, but when he looked away he said, "I think I might have killed someone, a life that didn't deserve to be ended."

Pan blinked and, with a cant of her head, looked puzzled. _"Where did that come from?"_

"What happened? Trunks, what are you talking about?"

Trunks glanced at her again and sighed in exhaustion. "I'll tell you tomorrow. Right now I need time to think," he said as he turned and lay on his side with a very confused Pan sitting behind him.

Pan made a face; _sleeping_ was the last thing she wanted to do right now!

She looked to Ledgic, whom was going through his paces with his swords. As Pan, now bursting with energy and agitation, strode as close to him as the walls would permit. "With all the possible respect that I can show to someone, can you please tell me what happened?" she asked.

Ledgic paused and looked to see Pan pointing at Trunks. His swords dissipated as he spoke, "They put both of you to sleep, and then they put him in the Arena and gave him an anti-sedative while you were still here, sleeping. Easily understood isn't it?"

Pan stood, thinking for a long moment. She couldn't help but wonder what might have happened out there. Especially since _her_ Arena experience certainly wasn't one to be forgotten.

She left Ledgic to his training and sat down next to Trunks. With her left arm resting on her left leg, she looked hard at the levers outside their cell. She would find a way out of this place; she knew that much for certain, she just didn't know when.  
---


	20. Kicking Assets

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story except Kezz, I claim him but nothing else.**

**Chapter Twenty - Kicking Assets**

It was a desert planet. Which planet? You might ask. The Slaves Arena planet of course, and it was located much closer to its sun than ours is now, this meant that most of the days were blistering and the nights frigid, however the seasons varied from year to year rather than every few months, (which we're used to,) meaning every few years would be colder or hotter than others.

Fortunately for our heroes, the general degree level for this year was not unbearable but not exactly comfortable. With 100 degree days and 40 degree nights it was slightly hotter than cold on average; for this reason every night, the metal ceiling compartments would slide open automatically for the purpose of cooling the building. This gave the prisoner's somewhat of a sky bound view at night, but that's only if they could stand to stare through their electric ceiling.

Another thing about nighttime, it never really got dark in the prison cells due to the constant illumination of the walls, and this made sleeping rather difficult, especially for Pan, since she had just been sleeping up until a few hours ago. So she lay awake and staring at the galaxy above; even though that would make her dizzy after a fashion.

She soon grew bored and anxious. She rolled onto her stomach and proceeded to work on her pushups. (It was the quietest thing she could think of.)

"I'm having a hard enough time going to sleep as it is Pan, do you mind?" Trunks reasoned and sat up to look at her.

Pan cringed and dropped to the floor at the sound of his voice; she wasn't expecting to wake him up. "Sorry Trunks, but I can't sleep," she told him as she recovered to a sitting position and hung her head, pouting.

Trunks sighed, because at that moment he wished he didn't know her as well as he did. "What's wrong now?"

Pan's face brightened and she looked at him hopefully. "Why won't you tell me what happened?"

Now Trunks looked sad instead of tired and averted his gaze away from her as if it was painful to look at her while he spoke. "I fought every creature they pitted me against, and I think I might have seriously injured one of them to the point of death," his words were strained and he still wouldn't look at her.

"But, they would have done the same to you…right?" asked Pan.

"I don't know. That's the problem! I'll never know. They were probably only fighting so they could escape, or fighting because they were forced to like Kezz, not just because they wanted to fight me." He stood, his emotions rising as his fists shook.

"Trunks, it's ok, you had to defend yourself," said Pan. (She was one to talk, right?) She got to her feet and reached to touch his shoulder again, only this time he jerked away with his back turned to her.

"No, it's not ok! Don't you see Pan? This is all wrong. This place should be destroyed!" he shouted and thrust his fist at the closest wall. He received a hissing shock that he could feel spreading through his arm and up to his shoulder before he finally decided to desist.

Pan held her hand back, a little hurt, but worry overtook that feeling. She wanted to respond but couldn't form the words to match her feelings, and instead she felt a familiar ache in her throat, and it seemed that the more she fought it, the worse it got.

A deadly silent moment elapsed and the only words Pan managed were, "I'm sorry, I didn't know," and she sat back down, wrapping both arms around her legs.

It just so happened that Trunks had chosen the wall connecting to Kezz's cell, and although the huge creature was able to sleep through almost anything, including the shouting, he did not sleep through the sparking noise; since he heard that every time his collar decided to go off.

When Kezz moved, you knew it, because the floor literally shook, not a lot but enough to get your attention. And this was something Trunks witnessed as the beast towered above him on the other side of the wall.

Kezz looked to Pan and then lowered his head to look Trunks in the face, he couldn't be sure what the problem was, but after examining the situation he had a pretty good idea. "Now look here, I would ask you something. Was it not up to you, and you alone, what you did out there?" the wolf creature questioned, sounding angry.

Trunks looked him straight in the eyes but soon found that he couldn't maintain this after a few seconds. He didn't answer verbally but somewhat nodded.

Kezz sneezed in irritation and stomped a forepaw. "Then why do you take it out on the Gentle One when it was you who made the mistake?"

"Gentle! You obviously haven't known her very long!" Trunks mocked.

Kezz growled. "Was that my point?"

Trunks moaned, knowing full well that he was losing this argument, and badly. _"I didn't realize I had such a _big_ conscience" _he thought to himself, and with a jerk of Kezz's head Trunks went to kneel in front of Pan, whom was now working on holding back the tears and sobs.

He waited until she met his gaze, his features soft and regretful. "Do you want to hit me? I deserve it, come on Pan, free shot," said he as Pan chuckled and wiped her eyes.

No doubt Pan thought about it, but instead, she settled for a colliding hug with an impact that sent Trunks landing on his back. "Oof, that's not what I meant, but ok," he said and wrapped one arm around her warmly.

The following was not something Kezz thought to concern himself with; and so he returned to his restful sleep, at least he hoped it would be restful.

A moment of contentment went by and Pan released Trunks and moved to lie on her back beside him. "You know what I really want right now?" she asked him and he looked at her.

"No. What?" Trunks asked numbly.

"A lolly."

Trunks laughed and pushed himself up with his elbows. "Out of anything in the world, that's what you would choose?" He smirked at her humorously.

Pan rolled her eyes, hands behind her head now served as her pillow. "Ok so what would you pick?"

"A remote for the lever."

"Ok besides that." growled Pan slightly annoyed.

This argument, slash, discussion went on for quite some time, until finally both of them dozed off.

---

The next morning, or at least, the few hours it took to reach morning, Trunks awakened to a very familiar position; in fact it could have been a déjà vu from a similar time on Earth only a few months before.

Sometime during the night Pan had nestled between Trunks' safe, warm arms. And that wasn't the only thing Trunks noticed. He was witnessing for the second time now as she purred contentedly in her sleep.

He was very much enjoyed her music when he suddenly sensed another presence. Trunks, careful not to wake her up, looked to see Rawfer standing at their cell again; his attention was focused on Pan, and he seemed to be contemplating about something.

Whatever the Slave owner had in mind, Trunks already knew it wasn't good.

---

Needles, she didn't care for them but she was ten times braver than her Grandpa when it came to those sharp, pointy things.

That is what she felt a moment before waking up, face first in the sand. She lifted her head and glanced around briefly.

Pan had only seconds to register where she was before nearly getting trampled. Her reflexes were the only thing that saved her, because she had no time to think. As it was, she had barely rolled out of the way.

She staggered to her feet and held her head with one hand in an attempt to steady her double vision. What she saw charging at her this time was some sort of giant komodo dragon, it wasn't as big as Kezz, but it was definitely just as intimidating.

She scowled and took to the air before it came any closer. She examined the creature and noticed it didn't have a control collar, _"meaning it's fighting because it wants to," _she thought and gasped when it hissed at her and suddenly grew wings from its back.

Pan growled and clenched her fists as the dragon began flapping its wings. "Fine, if that's the way he wants it, then let's do this." She held her arms back and started powering up until she reached the Super Saiyan level. By then the dragon had closed in and prepared for the attack. He knew very little of what Pan had planned for him.

As the dragon soared toward the now energized Pan, he suddenly found himself blinded and disoriented as he lost control of his wings and plummeted to the ground.

Pan chuckled at how successful the simple technique was. She even had enough time to remember when her Grandpa taught it to her.

--- _Shortly after the Dolltaki incident. ---_

"_Now Pan, this technique is called the Solar Flare, only use it when you're in a tight spot or when you don't really want to hurt your opponent," instructed kid Goku._

"_But Grandpa isn't the whole point of having an opponent MEAN you're suppose to hurt them?" Pan questioned._

_Goku could only sigh in anguish. "Never mind, just watch until I tell you not to," he told her._

_The young Saiyan put some distance between them and placed both of his index fingers on his forehead. "Now the main thing is not to panic, you need to concentrate in order to pull this off. Now close your eyes."_

_Pan did so, and was grateful for the warning, because it was still slightly blinding even though her eyes were closed._

_Suddenly the ship rocked and jerked and Goku ceased the technique. Pan steadied herself against the elevator pole, unlike her Grandpa whom clumsily hit his head on the ceiling._

"_Goku what are you doing? Are you crazy? We nearly got pulled into a planet's gravitational pull!" Trunks shouted and stumbled blindly out of the cockpit area of the ship._

_The ship had stopped spinning and Goku could only rub his head sorely. "Gee Trunks you're the pilot, why is that my fault?"_

_Trunks slapped his forehead in pure aggravation, and Pan couldn't help but laugh at the scene. ---_

The dragon had hit the ground hard and was down for a good minute or so. But he stood up again, almost unaffected as he shook his head. He then raised his snout to sniff the air. Apparently he still couldn't see, Pan surmised as she thought up her next plan of attack.

---

A normal person wouldn't have woken up so soon, but Trunks had a couple unique circumstances. The first was that of being half-Saiyan which made him anything but normal, that was a given, but the second; the second was caused by a dream, or a nightmare to be precise, but it couldn't rightly be called a nightmare during the day could it? Whatever the case he woke up with a start, sweat ran down his face as he placed a hand on his head to clear his thinking and struggled to control his breathing.

"Impressive, but they'll be angry when they find that you're awake, and then they'll just have to put you back to sleep again." Kezz told him as he observed the half-Saiyan's attempts to regroup himself.

"I don't care about that, where's Pan?" Trunks blurted as he glanced around the cell frantically.

Kezz looked down sadly. "I hoped that I wouldn't have to say, I'm sure she will be fine though, I do not think they will let her die."

Trunks nodded calmly but his body tensed and he didn't reply.

Kezz raised his head, even appearing noble as he looked down at Trunks. "What troubles you Saiyan?"

Trunks looked at him, startled. "How did you know I-"

"I told him while you were fighting yesterday," said Ledgic out of nowhere.

Trunks glanced at Ledgic momentarily but then looked back to Kezz. "Then you should know… I am only half-Saiyan, Pan is even less," Trunks said.

"And yet she has a tail and you do not," Kezz pointed out.

Trunks sighed; even though he was awake he could still feel the effects of the sedative working on him. "It's a long story, and I don't think I'm up to telling it right now."

"Then would you mind answering my earlier question? How did you wake up? That is very unusual, as well as unheard of around here," said Kezz.

Trunks closed his eyes, pondering whether or not he wanted to explain. "Was it about the Small One? She was your first concern-" Kezz started but was sent aback when he was abruptly cut off.

"Every time!" Trunks exclaimed and proceeded to let all his restrained misery burst forth. "Every time I have a nightmare it's about her either being attacked or killed by someone or something! It's agonizing, if only I knew what caused them, then I might be able to figure out how to stop having them!" He stood, panting as he looked to see a shocked Kezz in the other cell.

After a bit, both had collected themselves, Trunks for obvious reasons, but Kezz wasn't prepared for an outburst of that magnitude; meaning it took him a few seconds to reply.

"Well then, it sounds to me like you're simply insecure about her safety. Dreams are hard things to discern and-"

"They are normal emotional reactions to your daily life or previous experiences mixing with new ones. And they are supposed to keep your insanity to a controlled level, except it doesn't seem to be working for me right now, does it?" Trunks explained, feeling quite insane at the moment.

Kezz snickered and had to force a serious face in order to answer. "Ahem, well I think there is more to it than that. It's possible that the reason you have these dreams is connected to your mental condition before, or while, you sleep, it could even be the simple fact that you don't know where she is or if she's in danger. But that is only my interpretation; there could be as many different interpretations as there are people. The main thing is not the way I interpret it to you, but the way _you_ interpret it."

Trunks sighed hopelessly; this was getting him absolutely nowhere. "So what do you think the solution is?"

Kezz had to think about the question for a moment, it seemed like he would never answer but he did eventually. "It's only an idea, and it's hardly an answer for you-"

"Go on," Trunks urged.

"Have you noticed… whether or not you have these dreams when she's close?"

"You mean when I'm sleeping?" Trunks asked and Kezz nodded.

Now Trunks had to take a moment to think and he even sat down with his hand bracing his chin thoughtfully until finally saying, "I can't say for sure and I have them to many times to rule anything out."

---

The venomous dragon charged. Pan landed and faced him.

Now I have to tell you, the following was very sad, because when the dragon came close to three feet of the small Saiyan he immediately dropped a stick from his mouth like a trained dog, and Pan merely picked the stick up again and threw it.  
---


	21. Traitor in the Ranks

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story except Kezz, I claim him but nothing else.**

**Chapter Twenty One – Traitor in the Ranks**

Soon, after Pan had made the bloodthirsty dragon into a playful lizard, she was pitted against yet another opponent, but this time she was ready for it.

Her next adversary was sent up through an underground chamber and appeared in the arena about 20 feet away. He looked human at first but that was just his figure, Pan noticed. He was in fact an alien with very dark, scale like skin and his hands were bound by cuffs that continually sparked, until now.

With an outcry he snapped them off and launched himself forward, his intentions were obviously hostile and Pan quickly found herself off guard and more importantly, not powered up.

She panicked and hastily jumped to dodge his assault. He had thrown a forward punch and followed her movements to the second. He thus followed up by swiftly clipped her with a kick.

Pan was flung only meters away and she pushed off from the ground with her hands as she then landed neatly on her feet and primed in her fighting stance.

The alien fighter watched her carefully and paced to and fro as he steadily approached.

Pan watched him as well, studying his movements until he was far too close for comfort, then she dropped and spun, cleverly sweep kicking him. And it worked! The alien hit the ground and Pan made a mad dash to get as far away as possible.

When he finally regained his footing, Pan was already halfway across the arena, and powering up. The next thing he knew he was charging at her, and then he felt a dull pain in his stomach, where Pan had decided to land her first and last punch.

The alien fighter fell, unconscious, to a blond haired Pan, who simply stood there, listening to the cheers of the crowd.

Pan had to wait only seconds before her next opponent was placed before her. This time it was a feral one. It was a white tiger but it had metal plated forepaws including the _claws_ themselves which looked more like literal daggers.

He didn't see her at first. When he was brought up into the arena, he just seemed disoriented by the bright light, then he started attacking invisible targets, but eventually he seen Pan and growled, then began hissing in a rather monotonous way.

Pan just stood there with her arms folded arrogantly in her Super Saiyan state. Unless this cat could magically grow wings, like a previous monster, then she had nothing to fear, or so she thought.

The huge feline continued to hiss as his tail switched rapidly, then he rushed at her, and Pan thought she saw that he was about to tackle her, but she blinked and now he still had some distance to cover before he was on her.

She blinked again and she thought he was in her face and she took a fade to the side as an impulsive reaction, when in reality the tiger was only just _now_ about to pounce on her. Now she was on the ground, defenseless pray, or at least, that's what the tiger had in mind until Pan shouted and sent a ki blast which sizzled one side of his whiskers clean off his face.

The tiger snarled and stamped around in a circle as Pan regrouped herself, and her thoughts.

When it seemed that the big cat had no more interest in Pan, he was seized and removed by way of a shield and now there could only be heard booing from the crowd as they shouted something over and over again; a name, Pan assumed.

---

"Your theory is very possible, but I won't know for sure unless I test it out, it would be a real inconvenience if you were right though," Trunks said to Kezz.

"Indeed," replied Kezz. "Let's hope I am wrong."

The prison doors burst open to reveal a team of guards as they quickly congregated at Kezz's cell and proceeded to extract him, but not without getting a big fuss out of him first. One guard's foot got smashed and another guard was shoved into the first, causing a fist fight to break out between the two guards.

Trunks watched with a bit of amusement but also a bit of bewildered. "That's supposed to be easier than putting him to sleep?" he questioned.

Ledgic shrugged among his, continuously interrupted, meditation. "Apparently."

---

Pan stood, arms crossed and waiting for her next opponent, this time however, she didn't let her guard down; her gold aura proved that.

She must have waited ten minutes already, along with the crowd, which continued to chant a name that sounded oddly similar to Kezz, yet a little different still.

Suddenly the crowd's chanting ceased and the silence Pan heard was eerie beyond words. She watched, constantly turning so as not to get ambushed from behind.

A second later and she could hear a rough, scratchy, scraping noise; the sound of the elevators.

Pan frowned when her adversary was set before her. The announcer shouted something, the crowd erupted into applause and cheers, and Kezz roared in severe aggravation; but not because Pan was his target, rather he was fighting with the demands of his control collar at his neck.

The crowd only fed off of his barks and snarls while Pan drew closer, only this time, she had a plan.

Kezz paced nervously, and randomly glanced at her as she approached with a steady pace.

When Pan was within ten feet of the huge scaled wolf, Kezz snarled and slammed his forepaws on the ground in Pan's direction as a warning. "Stay back!"

Pan, halting her movements, examined his sparking collar with much interest. When Kezz looked at her again Pan took a step and he barked once more. "No! I don't want to hurt you again!" he exclaimed.

Pan smiled softly at him, but soon betrayed his wishes and phased into super speed, thereafter appearing on his back.

Kezz blinked and reared with a start; having something on his back was something he had never experienced, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

Pan gripped his collar as he thrashed madly; normally Kezz wouldn't have minded Pan riding him like a horse too much, but with the shocking of his collar along with the strange substance it injected into his bloodstream would make anyone act viciously.

Kezz had officially lost his senses and now he was nothing but pure instinct and rage. Before he had the chance to ram his back (including Pan) into the magnetic wall, Pan managed to crush his control collar and ripped the remaining pieces away.

Pan jumped off Kezz's back once he had calmed down and he looked at her, relieved, and blinking when he seen she wasn't hurt. "By the cosmos Child, you are unharmed."

Pan nodded but forbid herself to let her guard down. "And, you're… ok now?" she questioned.

Kezz also nodded. "Mostly… but would you mind also removing that painful irritation," he motioned his head to indicate a very unpleasantly placed strap, one you might see strapped to a bull at a rodeo.

Pan glared at the leather bond that was meant to enrage him even further. Kezz remained completely still as Pan approached and, with a quick ki blast, shot the strap off. "Thank you Dear, but I am afraid the situation will only get worse," he told her. "See what I mean? The crowd grows restless already, be prepared for the worst young one."

What he said was true, even as he spoke the audience made known their impatience.

---

Trunks paced anxiously at the door of his cell while Ledgic stood calmly at his own, as if he was expecting something.

"I have a bad feeling, something isn't right," Trunks muttered.

Ledgic made no reply, but simply watched and waited.

Trunks growled but ignored the warrior's silence. He couldn't quite place it, but he could sense an uneasy, disdainful feeling from him; something that had been there all along but he had never really paid any attention to it until now.

Suddenly more guards flooded into the prison hold, only this time they were lead by Rawfer. He pointed first at the cell with Ledgic and then the cell with Trunks, all the while barking orders.

With a shocked expression, Trunks looked to Ledgic whom was now smirking.

Just before the guards pulled the levers Trunks jumped in Ledgic's direction. "Ledgic! Understand this, if you even touch her I'll!-" and the shield compressed in on him shocking him into a burning torture.

---

Pan remained in her stance while Kezz towered beside her and facing the opposite direction; they were ready for any kind of assault.

Pan watched as one of the elevator floors blew up in smoke and flame, while Kezz witnessed a similar explosion in the other direction.

The smoke cleared and Pan beamed when she could see Trunks walking towards her, however her smile soon faded when Kezz was suddenly sent flying right passed Trunks, whom promptly stepped out of the way, and then the great beast was met by the arena's wall.

"No!" Pan cried as Ledgic landed next to her, where Kezz had just recently stood. She looked at him, confused and worried.

Ledgic glanced at her out of the corner of his eye but quickly dodged out of the way when Trunks nearly cuffed him. "Back off! You're insane!" Trunks proclaimed as he now stood between Pan and the warrior.

"Wrong," Ledgic said and unsheathed his swords. "I haven't fought in here for over a month, and you are going to fight me whether you want to or not."

Trunks growled. "What is wrong with you? We're not your enemies Ledgic!"

Pan seen Kezz struggling to stand and she quickly made her way over to help him as Trunks reached a hand to stop her, in vain. "Pan, wait-"

Ledgic attacked and Trunks had to dodge out of the way of his blades. He soon realized it was for the better that Pan left.

Kezz shook his new headache off and staggered to all fours; a sign that he didn't trust himself to stand on his hind legs right now. "That blasted rapscallion! What business does he have attacking me?" he fumed as Pan landed beside him.

"I don't know, but you're ok right?" Pan asked.

Kezz nodded and they both looked to see that Ledgic had backed Trunks up to the wall. And then, the warrior struck, his sword drove through the half-Saiyan's left arm, which he had decided to block with and avert the sword from his body, however now his arm had lost blood and gained a blade which, soon enough, Ledgic graciously removed, causing Trunks to howl and swipe out with his other arm.

Ledgic momentarily stepped back; out of range as Trunks remained standing, half bent over and panting as he let his wounded arm hang down, limp and bleeding.

"Pathetic," Ledgic said as he spun his swords and prepared them for another attack.

Trunks growled and gripped his aching shoulder and when Ledgic was about to strike, he was knocked and hurled a good ten feet away by a miffed little super Saiyan.

Ledgic sat up in his narrow groove in the sand, the one he had just created as he was being impelled. He glanced up to see Pan glaring in his direction, her hair yellow and her fists shaped like rocks. "No Pan, stay back!" Trunks pleaded as Ledgic stood and created some new swords, since his previous blades were lost in the sand somewhere.

Pan ignored Trunks' warning, she was thoroughly provoked and enraged; there was no good reason for Ledgic to be attacking her friends, especially since he was considered one until now, and now she thought of him as nothing more than a traitor.

Ledgic took one last second to look from Pan to Trunks and kept his focus on him, asking him for the last time a silent question that he already knew he was getting across.

Trunks desperately looked to Ledgic after he concluded that Pan was not listening. The look in Trunk's eyes told Ledgic that this would be the last step to pushing the half-Saiyan over the edge, and that's exactly what the alien warrior wanted.

Ledgic stepped and took off at top speed as Pan remained poised for his assault. But Trunks was not having it, within the time it took for Ledgic to reach Pan, Trunks had powered up to super Saiyan and, soon after tackling Ledgic and slamming him to the ground, reached super Saiyan two.

Pan could only watch in awe, she couldn't understand how Trunks found the strength so suddenly to do that even after being stabbed, but she was also a little dumbfounded because she had been completely prepared to take the full of Ledgic's attack.

Now Trunks' left arm, was in fact bleeding, but the second super Saiyan level made up for it, therefore he had plenty of strength to subdue Ledgic.

"So that's it then? You'll defeat me and move on to the next tournament and escape while she stays here."

"What?" Trunks blinked and Ledgic overpowered the half-Saiyan when his guard was down and laid into him, thrusting Trunks near to the wall.

"Trunks!" Pan cried and was also caught off guard and sent soaring.

"Come on Saiyan's let's see some real combat!" Ledgic called and was quickly silenced and trampled into the sand by Kezz.

The wolf regrouped and slammed a forepaw. "Ledgic! Does your lust for battle really overpower you to this depth?"

The sword fighter stood up, appearing unaffected. "I am in complete control, and I think it is you who does not see the opportunity at hand," he replied.

By now both Saiyans had recovered and met up to plan a strategy.

Ledgic gave them a moment and Kezz knew it would be unwise to attack him now; after all, he was in a completely lower level than the other three so he served as nothing more than a distraction now.

The Saiyains stood back to back in a sideways position facing Ledgic. They would let him have the opening attack this time.

Pan had only enough time to ask him how he was holding up and Trunks muttered something about being fine, then Ledgic struck and the fighting intensified.

Their strategy remained the same, one would attack while the other rested and they each had their own objective when it was their turn.

Trunks concentrated all his time on unarming him; he was considerably wary of those swords now.

Pan made it a point to blast him with as many ki blasts as possible; she found amusement in doing this for some reason.

Ledgic soon found himself being overpowered, and for good reason, it's not every day he had to go head to head with two Saiyans, regardless if they were half human and whatnot.

When, for the last time, his swords were knocked out of his grasp Ledgic had finally had his fill of the fight and retreated to a safe distance. He created two more swords and lodged them into the ground in front of him; an indication of his surrender.

Either it was because of the lost of blood or the outrages he had endured, Trunks wasn't sure, but he was having an extremely hard time swallowing this. He growled and disappeared from Pan's side and reappeared before the kneeling warrior and proceeded to grab him by the collar of what was left of his shirt. "So _you're_ allowed to just give up? I don't think so! You'll get what you deserve!"

"I'm not a fool; I know when I am beaten," Ledgic said calmly, too calm, Trunks thought. "You can do what you will, but I'm done. We'll have to do it again someday."

Pan stepped next to Trunks and tugged on his shirt innocently. His scowl vanished when he looked at her and then he thrust Ledgic back with disgust. "Yeah, you can bet on that," he replied under clenched teeth.

The fight had been resolved and the audience seemed to be satisfied with the stand off. (Fights like that were apparently rare.) The arena was then quickly filled with sleeping gas and the four of them were returned to the respective cells, except for Trunks whom was promptly sent to a medic.  
---


	22. The fall of Slaves Arena

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story except Kezz, I claim him but nothing else.**

**Chapter Twenty Two – The fall of Slaves Arena**

-Day Seven-

When next Pan woke, all she could hear was shouting from either side of her cell. "I fight of my own accord," Ledgic announced.

"Than apparently your accord knows nothing of allies, because the simple fact of this universe is that of allies and enemies. You fight your enemies, not your allies!" Kezz retorted.

"I don't recall ever saying any of us were allies," said Ledgic.

Kezz roared furiously and crushed the concrete beneath his forepaws as he spoke and released an enraged breath, "_INDEED_."

This even awakened Trunks, and he had been heavily drugged. He sat up holding his head with his good hand. Groggy and sore, he felt like he wouldn't be able to think or see clearly for at least a day.

Pan nudged him gently. "Trunks? Why don't you have a Senzu bean?"

He gave his attention to her but continued to hold his head as he felt around for the pouch. "I… I must have lost them in the arena," he answered gravely but was too tired to panic about it. "I'll be fine Pan, just don't expect me to spar anytime soon," he told her.

Nodding, Pan wrapped her arm around his good one and nuzzled next to him.

Trunks smiled warmly at her and then looked to Kezz and glared at Ledgic, both seemed to disperse from their argument.

A peaceful quiet hung in the air and then dwindled away when a familiar sound was heard from down the hall.

Pan moaned. "Why can't they just leave us alone for awhile?"

Trunks, although thrashed as he was, found enough mental energy to be suspicious as he watched closely the following moments.

Parkale appeared before them and this time he had two assistants. The scientist seemed worked up about something and he was letting his co-workers know about it.

He went on and on until finally Trunks looked to Kezz, whom now seemed rather interested in what Parkael had to say. "Can you translate please, this is beyond unnerving," Trunks asked him.

Kezz glanced to Trunks and then strained his eyes in concentration. "I believe he says something or other about, progress and then something about a stimulant, whatever that may be, sorry their language is very strange to me."

That seemed to sober him up _very_ quickly, regardless of the pain relievers and other medicated drugs Trunks had received, he darted to a standing position. "A stimulant? A stimulant for what?" he shouted at the scientists on the other side, even though the question was directed at Kezz.

Kezz looked confounded at him. "I do not know."

Suddenly Ledgic invited himself into the conversation with a lot of vexation in his voice. "What do you think? Why else would they put you both in the same cell? It sure wasn't because they ran out of space, I can tell you that much right now!"

As Parkale ordered a nearby guard to pull a lever, Trunks turned back to Pan and gripped her shoulders in hopes to make himself understood while ignoring the flare of his arm as well as ignoring Kezz and Ledgic because he hadn't the time to argue with them. "Pan," he said in a severe tone coupled with intense eye contact. "Whatever happens after this, you _have_ to keep your control; don't lose it, no matter what."

With that said, Pan was even more in bewilderment but she nodded nonetheless and Trunks seemed a little more relieved.

---

"You son of a bitch get out of here!" a man shouted and threw the half-Saiyan out of the building and into the street. "This is a restaurant, not a bar, and my daughter is a waitress, not a bartender!"

Goten sat up and lifted his hands in defense. "Hey, hey I'm sorry, but could you stop yelling at me? I didn't mean any harm, seriously."

The man huffed and went back inside the building.

Goten got up and sighed as he looked at the sky above. _"I just can't seem to stay out of trouble when you're not around Trunks. Course I guess Pan probably has your hands full, after all she gets into more fights than I do," _he thought and chuckled to himself. He dusted himself off and started his way to Capsule Corp. "Well, might as well go see how he's doing while I'm thinking about it."

The first person he seen when he got there was Bra and when he asked how she was, she acted like she was hiding something. "Uwa I-I'm ok, but why are you here?"

Goten cocked his head, a little confused. "Oh well I was just wondering how Trunks and Pan were doing. I thought you guys might know because of the com link on the ship. Have you talked to them lately?" he asked.

Bra seemed to panic and desperately tried to change the subject. "Uh we-well you see it um… hey did you get a hair cut or something, you look different."

Goten looked up slightly but raised a brow of suspicion. "Bra, are you ok? You seem nervous, is something wrong?"

Bra stepped back and shouted, "Daddy Goten is here to spar with you!"

Vegeta instantly appeared next to them and Goten fell backwards in surprise. "What? No sir, Sir!" Goten fumbled with his words and stood up again. "I mean, no thank you Sir I uh, was just here to find out how our space explorers were doing, then I was gonna go," he said quickly.

Vegeta crossed his arms as he normally would and then he looked at his daughter. "Well? Didn't you tell him?"

Bra sighed hopelessly. "I was hoping we could keep this from Chi Chi for as long as possible, but I guess it can't be helped. Come on Goten I'll take you to have Mom explain it to you."

Goten followed the blue haired half-Saiyan and kept his head low and grinned as he walked in front of Vegeta.

The Prince stayed where he was as the two made their way into Bulma's main laboratory. "Mom, we have a situation here, code red-4," Bra announced as Bulma could be seen approaching them from her terminal.

"So wait, if I'm code red-4, what number is my mom?" Goten asked quietly.

"Your mom is a nova-20, we would have had an emergency lock down if it was her," Bra explained.

"Oh."

"Hello Goten, I bet you want to know what's going on," greeted Bulma.

Goten nodded and Bulma led him to a big computer screen. "Well I have some good news and some very bad news," she started.

"What's the good news?" Goten asked.

Bulma sighed and click a button, bringing up a black grid on the screen with two green dots, along with a number of statistics at the bottom of the screen. "Their both alive."

Goten looked at Bulma with a shocked stare and yelped. "That's the _good_ news?"

Bulma continued, "the two dots represent Trunks and Pan and that's meant to tell us if their on the ship or not, and the statistics represent the current speed and energy level of the ship." Once she assumed Goten had caught up, she pushed another button that showed only one green dot. "This was the status of the ship eight days ago, and we tried contacting the ship, and whether it was Trunks or Pan we still don't know, but they didn't answer." Bulma waited a few more seconds and proceeded with the explanation. "This is the screen we got seven days ago," she said and the screen projected a black background with a big red X in the middle while the statistics read zero.

Goten pointed at the screen and had a mortified look on his face. "What does that mean?"

Bulma blinked at him blankly. "That means the ship blew up."

"Whaaaaat!"

"Goten, calm down, they weren't on the ship when it exploded," Bra told him.

Bulma nodded and brought up the screen that showed the one dot. "This is the reading seconds before the ship exploded." As they watched the green dot disappeared and then the big red X flashed across the screen. Bulma switched the terminal off. "And there we have it, the bad news. That's all we know."

Goten gaped as his breath caught in his throat when he tried to speak, "h-h-h-" Bra slapped his back. "How am I supposed to tell this to my mom? She'll kill me just for being the messenger! And what about Gohan? He'll kill me again!"

Bulma raised her hands in a shrug. "Guess you'll just have to keep it a secret until we hear back from them. But until then just tell Chi Chi that Pan and Trunks send their regards and their doing fine, which I'm sure is true."

Goten gulped and sweat dropped. "They better come back soon; I don't know how long I can lie to Mom about this."

---

-A few hours past-

Pan sat cross legged at the immediate front of the cell and faced the levers. Her face flushed and her hands gripped tight to the shin part of her legs. She was having an extremely hard time enduring these new feelings and urges that had been ten times amplified, not to mention it was only just recently that she had actually experienced these feelings for the first time.

Trunks coached himself on the other side of the cell as he paced back and forth. Even though he had learned control over these feelings a long time ago, he still dared not to stop walking. He had even started mumbling something to himself as he paced. "This is just a bad dream, just like all the others I'm going to wake up soon and we'll be on our ship and on our way to Namek."

This little episode went on for about an hour and for Pan, it was only getting worse with each passing moment, she thought she would go insane if it went on any longer, and she was reaching a point where she didn't think she could trust herself or anything for that matter, but mostly herself.

If nothing else Pan made herself focus on the levers outside the cell and that made it possible for her to concentrate on one thought and one thought only, the only thought that remained out of all the others, and that was: if she wanted it bad enough then she would escape this place.

Trunks was still pacing, now with his eyes closed, as he mumbled to himself when Pan called to get his attention. "No Pan, just stay where you are, if nothing else just do that one thing," he said, still his eye were closed.

"No Trunks, look!" Pan shouted and aimed a finger at the lever which had just been moved down.

Trunks complied and gaped when he saw that the shields were down. "Pan, what did- How did you-?"

"No time, let's go!" she proclaimed and rushed out of the cell and headed straight for Kezz's lever.

As Pan released the giant wolf from his cage Trunks stood outside Ledgic's cell and came face to face with him as if the half-Saiyan was holding his own personal trial for the warrior. Then, without any kind of explanation ordered, "You have to help us free everyone, even the undeserving."

Ledgic made no reply but Trunks knew he would help, he wasn't sure how, but he knew. When Trunks freed him, Ledgic wasted no time in bursting out of his prison cell and leading the group down the hall as he pulled every other lever.

Trunks smirked and got the ones he missed, all the while Pan and Kezz followed.

Things were going quite smoothly up until Ledgic, who was leading if you remember, met up with a very unpleasant shield that seemed to come out of nowhere. He was knocked back as Trunks caught up to him. "What? No, this can't stop us! Not now!" the half-Saiyan shouted and pounded his fists on the wall as Rawfer now stood on the other side, he wasn't exactly happy, but a small smirk could be seen on his face.

By now Pan and Kezz had joined them and the rest of the prisoners were on there way. Trunks kept his fists on the sparking wall, regardless of the pain his arm issued; he seemed to be in a hopeless daze of sorts. "It can't end like this… it just can't!"

Pan drew near to him and proceeded to hug him from the side. "It's ok Trunks, we'll figure something out," she told him sadly.

Kezz turned to face the approaching prisoners and growled; he would give the Saiyans a moment of peace no matter what, and this was very possible because he was a literal road block standing in the middle of the small hallway. "Mind your places fellow prisoners, for fear I grow tired of your presence." His statement and his snarling seemed to be enough to convince them to wait.

Rawfer and his minions fitted themselves with oxygen masks as he gave the order to bomb the entire building with sleeping gas; it was a hasty action but it would serve his purpose.

Pan was finally able to persuade Trunks to let off from the wall as gas slowly filled the building.

All hope seemed lost as Rawfer rattled off orders and turned to leave the area when suddenly the sleeping gas stopped filling the building, soon after that, the shields failed and died, leaving the armed guards to be rendered open season to the prisoners.

Before all madness broke forth, Pan, Trunks, Kezz and even Ledgic blinked out of complete bewilderment, as if it was all too good to be true.

They all grinned at each other and started wailing left and right and when it came to the stragglers, well they let the other prisoners take care of them.

Rawfer was nowhere in sight as the group continued down a hallway when they quickly came to a room, Trunks and Pan peered in and beamed when they seen a little white robot bouncing on a very important looking control panel. "GIRU!" They both shouted.

"Giru?" the robot asked and turned toward them and jumped with excitement while two guards lay unconscious on the floor.

Trunks laughed and caught the robot in mid jump. "I don't know how you did it Giru but you did it!"

"Giru, Giru. Trunks told Giru to get a ship, so Giru got a ship. Giru, Giru. Pan undamaged!" the robot declared excitedly.

Now it was Pan's turn to catch the robot. "So you're the one that shut down the shield Giru? You sure are one handy little robot," she praised him.

"Giru, Giru. The building will explode in ten minutes, Giru, Giru."

"WHAT?" Pan and Trunks chorused.

Kezz and Ledgic stood guard outside and watched as chaos reigned. "Hey you two now might be a good time to leave," Ledgic announced.

Pan and Trunks burst out of the control room with Giru leading the way to the hanger. "No kidding! We have less than ten minutes before this place goes up in flames!"

Kezz and Ledgic glanced at each other and now realized what the sirens and flashing lights _really_ meant. They had assumed it was because the prisoners had escaped, when in reality it was a warning to evacuate.

"Giru, Giru, this way Trunks," said the robot.

Before the four of them followed Giru down another hall Kezz came up from behind and lifted Pan with his head as he looked to Trunks. "She'll be safe with me; you just concentrate on keeping my path clear."

With a nod from Trunks, Kezz looked up. "Child, I advise you to prepare, my way is guaranteed but my pace is rough," he told her.

Pan nodded and braced herself between his massive horns.

When they left the maze-like hallways Rawfer could be seen being chased by multiple prisoners in high pursuit. "Get her to the ship," Trunks ordered, and whether it was directed at Kezz or Ledgic, neither knew for sure but they also didn't care to ask at the moment.

Coming from deep down in his chest Kezz roared at the other prisoners and trampled Rawfers remaining two guards. The prisoners quickly got the point that Rawfer would be dealt with, and that's all they decided they needed to know as they swiftly scattered to find themselves a ship.

"Trunks?" Pan asked as the half-Saiyan approached the slave owner, who was now on the ground crab crawling backward and whimpering.

With Pan still on his head, Kezz turned and galloped toward a ship which Giru had previously disappeared into. "Three minutes left Giru, Giru!" the robot announced desperately.

Pan jumped off of her mount and looked to see Trunks lifting Rawfer by the collar. "What's he doing? There's no time for this!" she yelled and bolted across the hanger bay.

Kezz remained where he was; he knew it would be in vain if he tried to stop her.

Trunks pinned the slave owner against the wall, all the while he wouldn't shut up until Trunks literally had to slam him against the wall. "My language! Now!" he barked and applied a gripping pressure to the alien's chest and throat.

Pan landed beside him and gently placed a hand on his wounded arm. "Trunks, leave him, we have to go, now!" she pleaded but it didn't seem to have an effect on him. "Trunks, revenge isn't something we need right now!"

Trunks didn't look at her but continued to scowl at Rawfer for a second before throwing him a few feet away. "You're right, let's get out of here."

By the time they reached their ship it was the only one left in the hanger and Rawfer's future was looking very bleak.

"Ok Giru, take us away!" Trunks told him and the ramp closed up as Pan made her way to the control room of the ship.

"Giru, Giru blast off!" Giru announced and pushed the launch button. Within seconds the ship thrust itself out of the hanger bay and into the sky, and for a moment it overlooked the Arena and its prison holds.

Pan and Giru observed through a window as the entire structure exploded, first in a few areas but then spread and soon the whole thing erupted like a volcano. "Kaboom!" Pan proclaimed and excitedly hugged Trunks, who had just sat down in the pilot seat. "We did it Trunks, we escaped! And it's all because of Giru!"

Giru jumped and landed in his pose. "Giru!"

Ledgic remained silent in a seat farthest from the others. He did well in hiding it, but he was extremely happy about leaving that place.

It wasn't until after Trunks had returned her embraced did he remembered about the stimulant, and that it would probably still be affecting them for a few more hours. He shook his head, an attempt to snap himself out of lala land.

In reality Pan was sitting in his lap while happily resting her head on his chest. "Um Pan, I need to concentrate on learning how to pilot this thing. Why don't you go check on Kezz? I'm sure he's lonely back there by himself," he suggested.

Pan gave him a quick peck on the cheek and complied, rushing off toward the cargo hold of the ship with Giru hovering behind her.

Trunks exhaled, relieved; that was too close for comfort…literally.

"So is there a particular reason you're not taking advantage of this opportunity?" Ledgic asked him curiously.

Trunks turned in his seat to glare at him. "That's none of your business, and yes there are many reasons," he told the warrior.

Ledgic scoffed and took his gaze out the window, quickly dropping the argument. "You can drop me off at the next planet."

Trunks looked back to the terminal and muttered, "Gladly."

---

The cargo hold was dark and it was probably the biggest part of the ship, perfect for Kezz who preferred open spaces much more over small ones. He met her half way and let her hug his snout. "I'm glad to see you unscathed Young One. It is good to be leaving that place at long last."

Pan nodded and stroked his head; she wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but it seemed like the thing to do. "It's all thanks to Giru!" she said.

"Not true Pan! Giru could not find the button until Pan pulled the lever, button flashed and Giru pushed it!" the robot told her.

"What? You mean _I _pulled the lever? But how?"

"Giru does not know," the robot answered.

"If I remember correctly, you _were_ concentrating on those levers quite intensely," Kezz added.

"Come to think of it… I think I did something like that back on Earth, a few months ago," Pan said.

"Well the fact of the matter is that we escaped and now we can go home and see our families," Kezz replied and laid down with his head resting on his forepaws.

Pan sat down next to him. "What's your planet called Kezz?"

"That is a hard thing to answer, because you see, there are three different species, or powers including mine. They are all divided by different ideals and ways of life, thus on my planet, each of them would call the planet that of their respective species. For example I am a Trentore so I would call it the planet Trentore, although I have never really approved of this, I know not what else to call it."

Pan listened intently and nodded. "So does that mean Trentore is a warring planet?"

Kezz sighed. "Yes that is what I meant when I said divided."

"I bet you were a General in your army, weren't you?"

This caused Kezz to chuckle. "Err well, not quite, I was a novice Captain and I had just lead my company through a hard earned victory against the more dangerous of the two other powers." He paused to be sure Pan was following so far, and she nodded for him to continue. "That night my company and I were attacked by a night raid of the same power we had just won a victory over… I was the only survivor when they retreated and to this day I know not why they did. The next day, though wounded and beaten that I was, I decided to make a suicidal attack on their capital city, and that's when Rawfer and his men ambushed, captured, and brought me to the Slaves Arena."

Pan looked at him sadly. "Do you even want to go back? Back to a war?"

Kezz smiled. "Would you not go back to _your_ world, regardless or not if it was a warring planet?"

Pan looked down and made no reply. "Therein lies my answer," he told her.  
---


	23. Landing on Trentore

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story except Kezz, I claim him but nothing else.**

AN: Updated Chapter 06-10-06

**Chapter Twenty Three – Landing on Trentore**

The silver ship shimmered and reflected the blackness and stars in every direction as it slowly floated through the emptiness of space. Its structure was much different from the Capsule Corp. designs, which resembled an octopus. It looked more like a modern jet except the wings were shaped differently and were placed toward the back of ship.

Inside the bridge, Trunks sat in the control seat, cradling his injured forearm as he searched the control panel for some kind of pattern; the fact that Giru somehow found the launch button was beyond him, the only explanation to this was that the little robot had roughly the last seven days to study it.

Ledgic had left moments ago to find a room to claim as his own, leaving the half-Saiyan to be alone in bridge. Trunks sighed and massaged his temples as his stomach growled; he hadn't eaten right for a week straight and his stomach was telling him the story all over again. He moaned and got up, giving the controls one last glance before leaving them, and hoping that the ship wouldn't float straight into a planet's atmosphere before he mastered how to steer it. But he wouldn't be able to learn anything with the rapid rate of orders his stomach was issuing.

This would be his first time exploring the new ship as he walked through the bridge and came to a three way split. The middle way was the one that brought him to the bridge from the entrance and past the entrance in the other direction led to the cargo hold, where he knew Pan and Kezz would be.

That left him with two hallways on either side. He guessed that one would lead him to the living quarters, and the other would lead to the dinning room. Now the question was, which lead to which?

Trunks sighed again as he chose the one on the right and made his way down the slightly lit hallway.

Soon he noticed the hallway declined and now it was taking him down until it finally opened up into a large room, the dinning room, Trunks noticed with satisfaction.

After he had figured out how all the alien contraptions and devices worked, and after eating to his fill, he took what food he could carry and made his way to the cargo hold.

When Trunks found it, he noticed that he hadn't seen any actual _doors_ on this ship yet, just doorways, with what seemed to be blast doors, safely locked into the ceiling above until a fire would trigger them to slam shut.

He walked in, and the expanse of the cargo hold surprised him a bit, but he turned his attention to the sleeping Trentore to his immediate left, or at least he seemed to be asleep, but Trunks knew that Kezz had sensed him, smelled him, and heard him? Whatever it was, Kezz knew he was there but his eyes remained closed.

As Trunks examined the scene closer, he quickly noticed Pan; she was sound asleep against Kezz's front, while one large forepaw encircled her, daring anyone foolish enough to take her.

Trunks smiled warmly at the peaceful picture and set the food on the floor before making his exit. He glanced at Kezz one last time before stepping into the hallway; the huge creature had opened his eyes for a second, and then closed them again as the half-Saiyan's presence departed.

"_Sheesh, talk about a giant guardian,"_ Trunks thought as he made his way to the living quarters in hopes of finding a restroom installed with a shower. He could only hope, since he hadn't bathed in over a week, not to mention his wound needed to be kept clean and re-bandaged.

As he walked down the hallway on the left, it led him up, instead of down, and he soon came to a part of the hallway that spread out into a slightly larger hallway with doors lining up on either side. There must have been at least 10 rooms all together, Trunks noted.

He entered one and found, much to his delight, that it had all the basic necessities, a bed, a closet, a desk, lights, and finally, a bathroom with a bathtub and shower.

After he had showered and tended to his arm, which he had a hard time doing one handed, he walked out of the bathroom, wearing only the pants part of his gi, and locked his door; there would be no more sleepwalking chaos if Trunks had anything to say about it.

He turned off the light and literally dropped onto his bed and was asleep in a matter of minutes.

---

-Eight hours later-

When Pan woke up, the first thing on her agenda was similar to what Trunks had accomplished a few hours ago; a nice hot shower and then a humongous breakfast afterward.

She found her way to the row of rooms and, after choosing one, she took a thorough shower and then dressed herself with her blue gi, she frowned in front of the mirror, the top part of her gi was still shredded on the left side, a reminder of when Kezz had torn into her shoulder when they first met in the Arena, and the only thing that covered that part of her chest was the bandages that were bound to her wound, which she had just removed before her shower.

She stepped out of the bathroom and found a closet and opened it to find alien custom clothes, she took a navy blue shirt and pulled it over her head; it was quite big on her but after a little customizing with some scissors from the desk it fit nicely under her sky blue gi. She then went back to the closet, scissors in hand, as she picked out an orange colored cape and proceeded to cut out a bandana for herself.

Moments after tying it to her left arm, because her hair was still wet, she would be found in the dinning room, where she was in the middle of gorging herself at a table when Trunks walked in; he mumbled a greeting, still groggy.

Pan continued stuffing her face and Trunks sat down across from her with his own breakfast. He stared at her and she kept going until finally, Trunks had to pull the bowl away from her. "Breath Pan! You shouldn't eat so fast after practically being starved."

Pan growled and slammed a fist on the table. "Are you the one that's related to Grandpa Goku? No, that would be me, and he could eat no matter what the circumstances were," Pan said.

Trunks stared at her for a few seconds, her hair was still wet with nothing holding it back, and at that moment, it made her look both fierce and beautiful at the same time, it captivated him until he shook his head, and mind, back to the present and pushed the bowl back to her. "Goku was a bottomless pit; he should _not_ be compared to anyone Pan," he replied and started eating as well, but slowly.

Once Pan had calmed down enough to eat her food normally Ledgic walked in and paid them no mind as he walked right back out with his own breakfast.

Pan watched him leave and then looked to Trunks. "Hey Trunks, are you sure we can trust him now? I mean after what happened in the arena and all?"

Trunks met her gaze with a serious look. "Look Pan, I haven't yet forgiven him for what he did, and he knows that, but he's not exactly our enemy right now because we helped him escape, and if you remember right, when he attacked us it wasn't personal, I think he's a lot like my father; he gets his entertainment by fighting others, he's a warrior and its all he knows," he explained.

Pan nodded. "Now that I think about it, he does remind me of Vegeta a little bit," she agreed and sighed as she stared down at her empty bowl; defective thing, it was empty!

---

After breakfast the both of them headed toward the bridge and Trunks sat down in the pilot's seat while Pan stood next to him, putting the cutest, most persuasive look on her face as she asked him; "So Trunks, could we go to Trentore, Kezz's home planet first? He would really like to go home."

"What are you talking about Pan? I hardly know how to land this thing, much less navigate through planets. I don't even know _where_ we are." Trunks looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry, but there's no way I can find Kezz's planet, I don't even know where Earth is right now," he said gravely.

Pan frowned as she nodded slowly. "But, can't we land on a planet and ask for directions?"

Trunks sighed. "Yes, but it's possible no one will know what we're talking about."

"…Why?" Pan wondered.

"Because Slaves Arena is a very isolated planet, therefore the closest planet is going to be slightly isolated also," explained Ledgic, he was sitting in the same chair as before.

"Exactly," Trunks said and Pan looked down sadly. He sighed again. "Pan, look, when we reach a planet to refuel I'm going to try and find out where we are, and then I'll ask where Kezz's planet is, but I can't promise anything."

With that said, Pan's expression brightened and she sat down in the closest chair. She leaned back, setting her damp hair against the headrest, and for a few moments she was quiet, but soon her tail flicked and she found she couldn't help asking, "So can't you make it go faster?"

Trunks chuckled. "Well, I could try, but if I push the wrong button then the ship might self destruct… We don't want that, do we?"

Pan shook her head profusely while Ledgic approached. He leaned over the control panel and examined it for a few second before swiftly tapping a combination of buttons, all the while Trunks gaped as a pathetic whimper escaped his mouth.

A destination chart appeared on the screen and the ship suddenly accelerated as the stars began flashing by.

"Ledgic Are you crazy? How did you know what buttons to push?" Trunks shouted angrily.

Ledgic blinked calmly. "I understood everything those aliens said, and I can discern their writing. You wanted to go to the planet Trentore correct?"

Trunks continued to gape as Ledgic went back to take his seat. "Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?" the half-Saiyan asked in aggravation.

"I thought you wanted to figure it out on your own," answered Ledgic tactfully.

"You're worse than Goku!" Trunks fumed and looked to Pan as she covered her mouth with a hand, attempting to suppress a giggle. Trunks exhaled and calmed himself before speaking again. "You might as well go tell Kezz… that he's going home."

Pan smiled and rushed off to deliver the message but she stopped before leaving the bridge and turned to ask: "How long until we're there?"

"Ask the expert," was all Trunks had to say.

Pan looked to Ledgic. "I would estimate, ten minutes at the most," said the warrior.

---

"How was I supposed to know that wasn't the brake?" Trunks shouted in defense and pulled off a shoe, tipping it upside down while sand sifted out.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot, I'm the only one that knows how to fly it!" Ledgic retorted and swatted sand off of his shoulder.

Only a few minutes earlier their ship had been about to land nicely on the soft desert ground below, however what Trunks thought had been the brake was exactly the opposite, and that had made their landing anything but nice. And when they opened the door to exit, sand flooded the entrance part of the ship because that part of the ship just _happened_ to be buried in the sandy ground.

Pan surfaced and waded her way out of the ship to join the other two. "Ok, I officially hate sand now; can I go back in and take another shower?"

Now it was Giru's turn as he popped out of the ocean of sand and perched himself on Pan's shoulder. "Pan need shower, Giru, Giru."

She nodded and placed both hands on her hips. "There, see? That's at least two votes and mine is the tie breaker."

Trunks groaned and slapped his forehead as Ledgic scoffed and left to inspect the area. "Pan, come on, we need to go find a city, or a town, or something so we can get a mechanic and fix the ship, there's no time to mess around," Trunks told her.

Pan sighed. "Ok, I'll go get Kezz, but I better get a shower when we come back," she said as she flew around to the back end of the ship where the ramp was already being lowered and opened up to reveal a bewildered Kezz.

He made it down the ramp with only a few steps and a leap as he came near to Pan. "Child, what happened? It was as though we crashed… and you are covered in sand," he stated.

Pan nodded and chuckled at the bland statement. "Yeah, crash is a good way to explain our landing," she replied with a smirk on her face as Trunks stepped beside her with the water they need for the journey. "Anyway, Trunks says we need to find a mechanic to fix the ship. Do you know where we might find one?"

Kezz thought for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, there are other species besides my own that live in our towns and cities. They dwell with us, but they are no part of our war and so they generally have nothing to do with us aside from general business. You might be able to get someone to help you though," explained he. "Except…" he paused with an uncertain look on his face. "I am not sure how my brothers will welcome you."

"Brothers?" Pan wondered.

"That is how I refer to my kind… is that not what you call your fellow humans?" Kezz asked curiously.

Pan looked to Trunks and he to her, both dumbfounded by the question. Finally Pan shook her head, slightly embarrassed and Kezz let out a hum. "Well, I will do what I can; however, depending on the conditions of the war I cannot promise you safe passage into the cities."

Trunks sighed, exasperated; things were just getting better and better by the second. "Whatever you can manage will have to be good enough Kezz."

The giant beast nodded regally and lowered himself. "You may both ride if you wish, I believe we have a long ways to go, and if we are where I remember of my home then we are in between my brothers' forces and the enemy's. We will be in a bad way if the wrong party finds us."

Pan and Trunks quickly mounted up along with their packs and canteens of water with Pan in front and Trunks directly behind her as Ledgic landed beside them. "I could see nothing for miles in every direction except that way," he indicated the direction. "It seems to be a base of some kind."

The other three looked extremely hard at the little black dot in the distance and it could hardly be seen amidst the waves of heat. "What do you say Kezz? Should we-" Pan started.

Kezz growled with tension as he contemplated. "No, I believe that is an enemy base, my brothers and I do not build them, we protect our people directly, and thus our cities and towns are our rallying places."

"Come, if my memory serves me, then a city lies in this direction," he said as he started in the opposite direction of the base.

Ledgic hummed with suspicion as he looked to the base one last time before following on foot.

---

Three hours had passed and Kezz was still going strong and although his pace was not exactly fast, he was steady and it beat walking. But by now both Pan and Trunks felt like stretching their legs and decided to carry the load of the water for awhile.

Trunks looked back and followed Kezz's footprints; their ship was nothing but a speck on the horizon now. "Kezz, you happen to have a good memory, will you be able to remember where the ship is?" Trunks asked.

Kezz looked at him. "Yes, but I'm afraid you might be aspiring for an empty cause. It is very possible that the enemy will commandeer it before you are able to return," he answered neutrally.

"What? But you said we might be able to find someone to fix it, why would you tell us that if you already knew it would be stolen?" Trunks whined.

Kezz sighed and forced his eyes straight ahead. "I said you might be able to find someone to help you, I didn't say anything about a mechanic."

Trunks groaned hopelessly; nothing seemed to be going his way.

"Trunks, it's ok, we'll figure something out, and hey at least we're not still in that arena right?" Pan said.

He nodded slightly; still, a hopeless look remained on his face as they came closer and closer to a slight gleam of gold; indicating a city lay only an hour away, and something told Trunks that the situation would only get worse as the day went on.  
---

AN: If you want to see a picture for this chapter, go to my lookup, I should have a link there.


	24. Passage into the City

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story except Kezz, I claim him but nothing else.**

Updated Chapter-06-10-06-Authors Note: Ok I went all the way back, re-wrote, and crammed together chapters 1-3 because they needed it badly and so that's why if you were wondering why there's still the same amount of chapters. It's a little confusing so I'll just tell you to make sure you read the chapter entitled:** Landing on Trentore**. Yes I posted not one, but _two_ new chapters at the same time.

**Chapter Twenty Four – Passage into the City**

As the foursome approached the city, a giant brick wall slowly rose above them, preventing anyone from seeing what lay inside, and soon, two figures could be seen standing on either side of the gold plated doors.

When they drew even closer yet, the figures began to take shape and both resembled Kezz right away, except they had quite a few differences, the first things being that they were bulkier than Kezz, if that were even possible, and instead of Kezz's brown coloring, the Trentore on the left was a tan color, while the one on the right bore a solid black.

The next thing Pan noticed was their attire, which included transparent robes that draped over their backs, coupled with metal plates on their heads serving as head guards, but Pan couldn't seem to discern whether it was meant to make them look more intimidating or if they were actually meant to protect their heads, probably both, she assumed.

The final difference she seen was that they stood on their hind legs, constantly, and they looked quite normal that way.

Kezz didn't take his eyes off of his fellow Trentore as the group continued forward. "They are royal guards, I advise that you do not speak unless spoken to," he told them.

The Trentore on the right stepped forward to meet them as they came near with Kezz in the lead. The guard quickly eyed the two Saiyans and Ledgic before addressing Kezz, in front of him now. "State thy brethren and title."

Kezz had to stare up at his fellow Trentore in order to make eye contact with him, since he was still nearly on all fours. "Kezz-Tire, Son of Kher-Roh, Brother of Nemy-Faw, and former Captain of the royal force, platoon unit 7."

The guard nodded with all seriousness on his wolf-like face. "Rise Brother, your absence has been known. You realize your company was found slain three months ago?"

Kezz grimaced as he forced himself to stand on his hind legs. "Aye," he managed to answer after meeting the guard's eyes.

"_Poor Kezz,"_ thought Pan as she looked at him sadly. Being in that cell all that time must have forced him to hunch forward, and not being able to build the muscles in his legs every day must have made it extremely hard for him to stand erect right now.

The guard's eyes narrowed under his head piece. "Have it known to you also that we have suffered many sacrifices and," he paused with an uncertain look about him before he continued. "Many changes have occurred; do you still wish to enter regardless of the pain which awaits you?"

Kezz glanced down sadly for an instant; he had an inkling of what was meant by pain, but he quickly met the guard's eyes once more. "Aye."

"Very well, you may enter, but concerning the others I must object; my orders are not to admit outsiders," said the guard in a deep, neutral voice.

Pan and Trunks stared in bewilderment and were about to protest when Kezz replied, "they are my companions, they are very strong, and you would do well to allow them and myself an audience with the commanding officer in charge here."

Pan smiled a bit after seeing Kezz retaliate like that, she cupped her hand and leaned closer to Trunks. "I bet Kezz could take him," she whispered, causing Trunks to smirk in reply.

"You speak nonsense, my orders are quite clear, _no_ admittance," replied the guard, this time his eyes shown a bit of anger.

With a sigh, Kezz looked down to the two Saiyans beside him; both seemed to return his hopeful gaze. He set his eyes back to the guard once more. "Very well, may I request the commanding officer's presence?"

The guard glanced down, thoughtful, before nodding slightly and turning to the other guard. "They request the General's presence."

The tan colored guard complied and stepped in front of the gates, a second later and he was pushing the heavy plated doors open. This gave the rest of them a glimpse of what it was like inside the mighty wall; buildings could be seen, along with merchant tables under tents, while more Trentore populated the area with other small creatures and aliens as they stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at the creaking doors which had opened, but it was only a momentarily glimpse because when inside, the guard gave an order to two other Trentore and they quickly closed it up again.

The dark scaled guard looked to Kezz again; seriousness never seemed to leave his face. "Brace yourself Brother, I know not how long you have been away, however, absence is no excuse, as you know."

Kezz nodded and the guard took one last glance at the Saiyans before stepping back and returning to his post.

While they waited, Kezz relaxed and lowered himself, groaning at the strain in his legs. Pan drew next him and touched his face gently with a worried look on her face. "Kezz, why not just tell them it hurts you to stand?"

This caused the great beast to chuckle. "It is not that simple Young One, it is a gesture of respect and it is required by all who wish to have respect shown in return. I appreciate the thought though." He smiled at her and looked to the gates when they began to open again.

Kezz again stood erect as Pan stepped back beside Trunks and both watched in awe as an even larger Trentore emerged through the gates, his pace was swift and heavy as he approached, he too was of black toned scales and his attire was much the same as the guards with slight differences that Pan didn't care to inspect. "Kezz-Tire state your business Brother; I have many matters to attend to besides this," he said in a gruff, commanding tone.

Even Kezz was forced to look up slightly now, and he was standing as tall as he was able. "I come with my companions, they helped me escape my prison, and for that, I wish to return the favor by showing hospitality," he replied, just as forthright as the larger Trentore standing before him.

The General glanced at Pan and Trunks and then Ledgic who was now standing some distance from the Saiyans. "How do I know they are not spies?"

"General, I assure you, they are not spies, they are not from this planet," explained Kezz.

The General sighed with his forepaws folded as though they were arms. "Regardless, we are on high alert, for if you do not know, there has been done a great evil, before his coronation our Prince committed high-treason by conspiring with the enemy. The Trentore Capital City has become a city of madness and chaos, we have terminated all communications with them and we are expecting a retaliation soon with the Prince himself pronouncing us of high-treason, therefore you can understand my concerns."

Kezz suddenly looked pained as he inquired, "our Prince? But, General, this could erupt into a civil war! What will be done? We cannot fight our Brothers… It is forbidden."

The General sighed again, this time with a bit more annoyance. "Aye, it is a very difficult situation, but we will defend our people above all else, however, we are at a bit of a stalemate for this reason. No one comes or goes unless their history has been checked and authorized; therefore I cannot allow your companions to enter."

Kezz was at loss for words as he looked away in bewilderment. And as if it wasn't enough, the General added, "I suggest you move on to the next city, and see what's _left_ of your family before a level two lock down occurs, when that happens even _you _will be denied admittance," he said as he turned and started back toward the gates.

"Oh _that_ does it!" Pan growled and pushed up her sleeves with an angered look on her face, but Trunks grabbed her before she could do anything else.

The General half spun to look at her. "What was that?" he looked to Kezz as if it was below him to address Pan. "Kezz-Tire does your companion have something to say to me?"

By now Kezz had taken all he could stand, everything he knew was being stripped away from him, the empire he fought so hard for was being torn into fragments while even his family's safety was in question, thus at this point he cared not what would happen next, and although he would not directly attack a fellow Brother he certainly wouldn't stop Pan if she attacked him. "I believe so." He looked to Pan with a nod. "Perhaps you were not informed; these two are Saiyans and the other is a mercenary."

The General's eyes widened and he stepped within five feet of them, towering over Pan and Trunks. "Saiyans?" he rumbled in disbelief.

Pan's expression was petrified as Trunks nudged her. "Nice going," he whispered as the Trentore's shadow overtook them.

"Aye, Saiyans," Kezz repeated.

Trunks remained calm and firm, yet a little dismayed as he stood next to Pan, while she on the other hand, could feel her tail quivering in fear as she contemplated on eating her words.

The monstrous Trentore stared at them for a long moment as if he were staring into their very souls before he finally broke the uncomfortable moment by letting out a heavy chuckle. "Bah, nonsense, Saiyans have been extinct for over half a century, there is no way these ones could be Saiyans."

"Believe what you will General, but regardless if they are Saiyans or not, and with all respect due, one of them on their own could topple you from where you stand," said Kezz.

Not moving, the huge General looked to Kezz. "What is your point Kezz-Tire?"

"My point is this, if they truly wanted to, they could effortlessly jump this mighty wall as if it were a log on the ground, however, they are my friends and they respect my wishes," Kezz told him, also not moving from his spot.

The General faced the two Saiyans again, this time his features shown thoughtfulness mixed with suspicion. "You have peaked my interest, however, I demand a demonstration." He lowered his head enough so he could look at either of them with a simple tilt of his head. "Now then, which of you decided to address me without a proper introduction?"

Trunks looked at the shaken Pan out of the corner of his eye and then nudged her for the second time. "We-well that would be me," she said, adding a nervous laugh afterward.

The General smirked. "Your name, if you would."

"Pan Son," she answered, her voice clear this time.

The General regained his height and held himself regally before introducing himself. "My name is Troh-Rok, General of the Typhoon City royal army. If you can manage to prove your bloodline then I will provide for you, admittance into the city, all four of you."

Pan nodded, still shaking slightly, but she was finally starting to regain her composure.

Troh-Rok held his smirk as he turned his vision to the guard on the right, the same one that came to them before. "Come forth Captain, I wish for you to provide a demonstration," the General ordered, and the dark scaled Captain approached.

"Pan Son, if you would be so kind to grace me with a demonstration of your strength upon my Captain, then I will gladly approve of your lineage in question," requested the General.

"What do I have to do Sir?" Pan wanted to know.

"That is up to you. For _you_ are the one fighting my Captain," replied Troh-Rok.

Pan and the guard both looked at him dumbfounded. "General? Surely you jest," said the guard, but quickly thought about his wording and realized that the General did not jest. "I am to do battle with that?"

"That?" Pan asked, insulted, as she stepped away from Trunks and took up her fighting stance.

"Pan, don't over do it," Trunks advised before she had locked on to her target.

Troh-Rok chuckled again, almost wishing he was jesting since it happened to be funny. "Please, Captain, humor me," he said as he put some distance between himself and the soon-to-be battle field.

The Captain frowned when he looked from his General to Pan, who now seemed ready to tackle him. He sneezed in irritation with the thought of being pit against a small, harmless child. But nonetheless an order was an order, and he un-clipped his robe and gave it to the other guard as he then stepped within ten feet of Pan. Then he simply stood there on his hind legs, unmoving as he waited for her to make the first move.

Pan studied his pose and took slow steps to her right, flanking him, but he didn't move besides his head, which turned to watch her ever so slightly.

Now the General stood on Kezz's left with Trunks on his right, while Ledgic observed everything from a distance.

As Pan continued to circle the guard, Kezz looked to Troh-Rok, troubled. "General, what is he doing?"

Troh-Rok smirked at the question. "What does it look like? He is not taking this fight seriously, thus he does not take up a fighting stance."

Kezz growled with uncertainty. "He will regret it."

As soon as Pan was aimed at the Trentore's left side she bolted towards him and when he blocked instinctively, she pushed off from the ground and thrust herself in the air by way of an energy burst, thus bluffing her assault as she hovered in the air above him.

After the Captain had composed himself of his surprise, he looked up to see a smug looking Pan hanging in the air with her arms crossed. He growled and lowered himself as far as his hind legs would allow before releasing his muscles and quickly launched him high in the air as he nearly clipped the unsuspecting Pan with a forepaw, but she dodged with enough leeway to land a safe distance away from him before he landed with a loud thud; that would have hurt if she had been in his grasp, she realized.

The Captain growled again as he faced her and took to all fours in a battle position, prepared to charge at her.

Kezz again looked to Troh-Rok with concerned features. "General, surely that is enough to prove what she is, please I ask you, stop this fight before there is cause for sour feelings," he pleaded.

The General kept his amused smirk as he watched the fight unfold. "I have not yet seen any display of power, Kezz-Tire. The fight goes on until this is established," Troh-Rok replied as Kezz looked away, dismayed.

All the while Trunks watched Pan, hoping beyond all hope that she didn't make the situation worse than it already was.

The guard charged for her, she jumped and he followed, his forepaws extended to grab her, but she threw a kick and landed it upon his bottom jaw, knocking him backwards, and his heavy bulk hit hard when he landed on his back, regardless of the soft, sandy ground on which he landed.

Pan set down softly, as her fists remained at her sides, still prepared for battle but loose.

She expected him to get up and charge at her again, only angrier this time, but he didn't. If he was still mad he didn't show it as he stood up, rubbing his sore under-jaw.

The General could be heard laughing heartedly as he approach Pan. "Very good My Dear, you have proven your worth, and your lineage, you and your companions may enter the city as you please," he told her and gave her a heavy pat on the back as he went to commend his Captain for a fight well fought, how ever short it was.

Pan looked to Trunks and Kezz, beaming as they came together. "Hey nice going Pan, I'm glad you didn't hurt him too bad," said Trunks with a wry grin.

"Aye, you did well Child," Kezz praised.

Pan was about to reply when Ledgic suddenly walked past them. "Well that was a waste of time, are we going in now?" he asked, which when translated meant, 'I'm going in, are you coming?'

The other three looked at each other and shrugged; Ledgic was part of the team now and like it or not they would have to get used to his stubbornness, and he would have to learn to deal with their rejoicing over the small battles that were won.

On their way through the gates Trunks and Pan let Kezz lead the way into the city entrance and as they met up with Ledgic, they all seemed a bit captivated by the number of Trentore and other creatures that inhabited the area as the foursome themselves collected the stares.

---

AN: Ok so if I failed to explain something in this chapter, please let me know in a review, I would really appreciate it because there is just so much going on in this chapter that it's possible I'll overlook some things. Oh and I hope everyone likes the Trentore, also I have a picture for this chapter, go to my lookup for the link. It took me a whole day to sketch out and another day to color, so I honestly believe the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words.


	25. Rich in Hospitality

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story except Kezz, I claim him and the Trentore race but nothing else.  
**

Authors Note: Hajimemashite readers? Well you might notice the culture of the Trentore is sort of a combination of things I've read or seen in movies, but I am trying to make everything up myself as much as possible, so please don't flame me too bad.

**Chapter Twenty Five – Rich in Hospitality**

While the Trentore General remained outside the gates momentarily to speak with the Captain, Giru suddenly flew past the open gates and perched himself on Pan's shoulder, blipping and chirping his usual greetings. "Giru! Where have you been anyway? You little coward, were you hiding?" Pan hissed at the white clad robot on her shoulder.

After a few more beeps he replied, "Giru searched all around wall, Giru, wall never ends, Giru, Giru."

Pan looked to Trunks, puzzled. "What's he mean?"

Trunks crossed his arms and flinched a bit as his left arm was still quite tender, nevertheless he chuckled at the question. "He means that the wall goes all the way around, like a fortress," he explained with enthusiasm; he seemed to be in a much better mood now that things were starting to work out for the better, and although their ship was still out there waiting to be stolen, he decided to enjoy the experience at hand, these were interesting creatures with a culture built upon a pure honor and a wholesome moral that seemed refreshing to even be graced with the acceptance to be among them.

With a few last words to the Captain, the General entered behind them and ordered the gates to be closed as he drew near to Kezz. "Brother, if I may have a word with you," he said while stepped to the side, urging Kezz to follow. "Before I announce your companions I would know whether or not they intend to help protect the city, if so it comes to a defense needed."

Kezz listened and looked to Pan and Trunks who now watched and waited patiently for him. "This much I will promise you General, they will label for themselves allies to whom they believe are their allies, therefore if the innocent are the ones to whom you mean by protecting the city then yes, I believe that they would do well to protect what needs protecting and fight what needs be fought," replied the former Captain.

Troh-Rok smirked, amused. "You are wise in words Kezz-Tire, I gladly receive your promise and your meaning is understood. I shall proceed with the introductions then," the General said as he stepped toward the middle of the large marketplace.

"Attention Brothers!" he demanded. "I am sure you have already noticed the newcomers, however, they are not normal visitors, they are of a legendary race, they are _Saiyans_," he paused as the crowd gasped and murmured among the silence and fear that hung in air. The General looked at them with a maniacal grin and continued. "And they come asking nothing but our hospitality, and in return they offer their superior fighting abilities for as long as they reside here with us," he paused again as the crowd's murmurs grew louder and excitement began taking over their fear very quickly. The General raised his hands somewhat and went on. "And as you know, with the coming invasion ordered by our betraying Prince, this will give our defending army an immense advantage. Therefore let us make their stay as enjoyable as possible!" he shouted intensely, lifting his forepaws even higher as the audience suddenly changed their tune considerably and exploded into praises and cheers.

By now Kezz stood beside his companions and listened warily to the General's announcements and nodded back when Troh-Rok approached and asked if that would suffice. "My friends and I are hungry and tired General, would-"

"Say no more Brother," Troh-Rok interrupted and motioned for a young female Trentore to approach. "Show our guests to their quarters, and give the orders to prepare their dinner," he ordered the grey scaled Trentore, she was hardly taller than Trunks and she nodded timidly, first to Troh-Rok and then to the group of four.

"This way," she told them as she turned and started leading them to a large blue tent.

"We have quarters already," Pan said, whispering to Trunks when they were out of hearing range of the General.

Trunks chuckled and Giru launched himself from Pan's shoulder and began jumping from one foot to the other. "Quarters ready! Quarters ready! Giru, Giru."

When the female Trentore reached the tent's entrance she pulled back one of the door flaps and bowed, waiting for them to enter. "Here you are," she said.

Trunks entered first with Kezz and Ledgic following as Pan came last and she looked at the Trentore, still holding the flap. "Thank you, but… why are you bowing?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

The grey female glanced up slightly but quickly corrected herself in a panic. "You are welcome Milady," she replied but conveniently avoided the question as she kept her eyes to the ground.

Pan's expression froze into a blank stare as she looked to Trunks and shook her head. Almost a moment passed and Pan finally realized, after Trunks motioned for her to enter, that this Trentore was not going to move until Pan stepped into the tent. She quickly did so and the small Trentore rushed off, much to Pan's dismay; she did not approve of this treatment. "What… Did… She… Call… Me…?" she asked numbly.

Trunks stepped beside her, a grin on his face. "I believe you are royalty now Pan, get used to it, _Milady_," he jeered.

"No, I refuse! This is going to change right now!" Pan shouted.

She was about to burst out of the tent when Kezz spoke up. "That is her job, she works by taking care of all our honored guests, all cities have workers like her," he explained and that seemed to calm Pan's nerves on the matter, still, the bowing would have to be put to rest, she decided.

Looking around the expanse of the tent, Pan found that it seemed quite cozy yet so simple, if you could get over the sandy ground.

There was three twin sized beds with a space of five feet in between each of them and in the largest area of the room there was a place for Kezz with an assortment of bedding and blankets laid out as his bed; it seemed as though that was the most comfortable way for a Trentore to sleep.

Trunks crossed to the middle bed and dropped backwards onto it as he stared up at the curved ceiling of their tent, he frowned and pushed himself up by his elbows, flinching at his arm again while he looked to see Pan taking the bed closest to Kezz and the Trentore gratefully collapsed to his bedding. "Kezz, it doesn't feel right telling everyone that we're Saiyans, remember we're only part Saiyan," Trunks said.

"Trunks, there is no reason to complicate the matter, I believe it does not matter if you are full blooded or not, it would only make the subject more difficult to approach," Kezz told him.

"Besides Trunks, who cares about little details like that? All they care about is that we help defend their city while we're here, you heard the General," Pan reasoned as she lay on her back with her hands cupped behind her head.

"What's this Pan? I thought only a second ago you were against this royal treatment," Trunks mocked with a tilt of his head and a smirk on his face.

Pan sat up and aimed her index finger at him seriously. "The titles and the bowing are uncalled for, but everything else is ok," she said, indicated everything in their tent as 'everything else'.

"Child, that is something the maids are taught to do, it is simply their way of showing respect, nothing more," Kezz chuckled after replying.

"It just makes me uncomfortable, that's all," Pan mumbled and then looked to Kezz curiously. "Say, Kezz, I was wondering about something earlier," she said, waiting for him to nod. "Why is it when we first met, you told us only the first half of your name?" Pan wanted to know.

"That is a good question Pan." Kezz smiled at her as he went on, "it is a simple matter of formality. With family and friends we use only the first half of our name, with anyone else our entire name is used as a sense of respect," he told her.

Pan nodded with interest, now sitting cross legged on her bed. "So tell me about your family Kezz, are you married or do you have any kids?"

"Pan! That's a very personal question to just blurt out like that," Trunks scolded, earning a glare from Pan and an odd look from Kezz.

"Why? He's my friend, I want to know more about his family," was Pan's retort.

"It is alright Trunks," Kezz told him. "It is a very common subject for our kind, I do not mind." He looked back to Pan, his expression soft. "My answer would be no, I do not have a mate. You see, before my capture I concentrated on nothing else besides my career as a soldier, I had no plans to look for a mate, for fear if I died in action it would leave her heartbroken," he paused and stared down sadly, "as it did my mother."

Pan frowned at his last sentence; his father must have died in battle. "I'm sorry Kezz, I didn't know."

Kezz smiled back up at her; however his eyes still shown unshed tears as he gazed towards her and Trunks. "Enough about me, what of you two? It seems obvious to me by now that you are indeed very close, do you plan-"

"I asked something very similar," Ledgic called from the other end of the tent. "Be careful how you word things Kezz-Tire, you could end up regretting it," the warrior warned him with his back turned to them; he sat on the floor seeming to be in meditation.

Kezz glared at Ledgic for a few seconds but quickly looked back to see that the two Saiyans were both blushing from embarrassment. "Perhaps it is not such a common subject where you come from?" Kezz wondered aloud.

"No, it's pretty common on Earth," Trunks answered as the face of Goten flashed across his mind, all the while Pan was silent as she stared at her lap, her tail flipping nervously.

With a confused hum Kezz pushed himself to all fours when a number of maids entered the tent with multiple dishes of food and set them along the extremely long table that stretched from the first bed to the last.

Pan suddenly perked up and hopped off her bed as she rubbed her hands together when she seen the glorious meal set before her.

Not much was said during dinner, since Pan was the one that made most of the conversations and she was too intent on eating; she was really starting to wonder what she was becoming, it almost scared her because this was how Goku used to eat, but she shook her head and reasoned that she was only eating this way because she was starved for a week, that was all, and she would be back to normal, hopefully, within another week.

Once Kezz had finished eating, he excused himself and left the tent, saying something about how he needed to speak with the General, but other than that Pan didn't pay a whole lot of attention, tending to her stomach was of most importance at that moment.

Trunks and Ledgic finished soon afterward and went to their respective beds, but Pan kept eating until finally she had to ease backwards and lay flat on the floor for fear if she moved any more than that she would blow up. She lay there, blankly staring at the roof of the tent, not even bothering to make an attempt toward her bed.

---

When Kezz stepped out of the tent, he noticed the sky had darkened considerably and was getting darker as a red planet slowly ascended the Trentore sky, serving as their moon. He sighed as he started his way toward the General's tent; it was time to hear about the 'pain' which had been implied before he had been granted admittance.

The wind was blowing slightly as he stood outside the flapping doorway and requested permission to enter. When it was granted, he held the blood red cloth back and moved into the General's quarters.

Another soldier stood across from the General with a tall desk between them as they seemed to be in deep discussion about something. "I apologize for the intrusion," Kezz started but the General held up a forepaw.

"No need Kezz-Tire, tell me what you need," replied Troh-Rok, dismissing the other soldier with a mild gesture.

"I was told pain awaited me before I requested your presence, I know half of it was the news about the Prince, however, you also mentioned something about what remained of my family. Please, explain," Kezz urged, he was not sad, nor was he exactly serious, rather his face remained placid as he awaited the answer.

With a heavy sigh the General nodded soberly. "The city your family was located in was attacked a month ago, we had our suspicions but we only took precautions with the children," he told Kezz gravely. "The result was a horrific genocide, no survivors. So far this has happened with five of our major cities and ours is the one next in line."

Kezz could no longer hone his calm features, his muzzle wrinkled into a scowl and he found it impossible to hold back a pained growl. "This already _is_ civil war!" he snarled.

"Not yet," Troh-Rok replied firmly. "It is not considered war until we fight back, we have done nothing more than defend ourselves, but regardless, you wanted to know of your family's condition and there it is, I believe your nephew is all the family you have left, and as it is he is currently an orphan in a refugee camp north of here." The General crossed to the cloth doorway and held the flap open, urging Kezz to exit. "I am truly sorry Kezz-Tire; however we have all suffered losses in our own way. Please understand, I must continue planning a strategy for our defense if we ourselves are to survive."

Kezz nodded, extremely troubled by the information; just like that his mother and sister had died and his sister's son was left orphaned. He was starting to think about Pan's words, about how she asked him why he was returning to a war torn world. It was a hard thing to swallow but he bowed in respect at the General before leaving and heading back to his companion's tent for the night.

---

As Trunks lay in his bed that night, he stayed awake thinking about all the different things that had happened since their departure more than a week ago. He thought about how that last little threat on Slaves Arena, and what could have happened had they not escaped, but he stopped himself right there, he didn't dare think of the outcome if that situation had continued for more than a few days.

He turned his head to look at Pan, sound asleep in her bed and five feet away. No doubt she was still confused about what was going on when they were under the effects of the stimulant. But since she hadn't brought the subject up or asked any questions yet, Trunks had assumed she understood the situation somewhat, and she was either too embarrassed to talk about it or she simply hadn't thought about it yet, either way Trunks wasn't exactly looking forward to that conversation... Not yet anyway.

Pan's sleeping form was the last thing he seen before sleep overtook him; he dreamed but nightmares did not torment him that night.

---

The Next day Ledgic went to explore the city on his own while the other three remained in the vicinity of the marketplace. There were Trentore children that stood on their hind legs and only managed to rival Pan's height as they played a game of tag in an open part of the marketplace.

The General stood outside his tent, observing the morning and activities of the people. Trunks saw him and decided to take this time to ask about getting their space ship back. "Pan, Kezz, I'm going to talk with him about our ship," he told them and they nodded.

"We will be here Trunks, feel free to ask of my assistance if you need it," Kezz replied.

Trunks nodded and approached Troh-Rok. "Excuse me, uh General?" he addressed the monstrous Trentore.

Troh-Rok turned to look at him. "Aye, what is it you need of me Saiyan? I have yet to learn your name and the name of your other companion, whom seems to have disappeared."

"Sorry Sir, my name is Trunks and his name is Ledgic," said Trunks.

With a heavy, slow nod Troh-Rok focused on Trunks. "Continue Trunks," he urged with a slight gesture of his forepaw.

Trunks met the large Trentore's red eyes as he spoke. "Please General, I want to retrieve our abandoned ship and fix it, but in order to get it here I need help, not to mention it could already be in your enemy's possession."

Troh-Rok nodded in understanding. "I know your situation well. But I have a dilemma of my own, for if I am to give you my soldiers I will be leaving the city unguarded," said he.

The General looked at Trunks' expression of dismay before adding, "However, I have a proposition. What if you were to go with 15 of my strongest soldiers, not counting Kezz, and all I ask is that Pan Son stays here to protect the city in my soldiers' stead?"

Trunks thought for a moment, his hand rubbing his chin in deliberation. "That will work, but I think I should check with Pan and Kezz first," he said as he looked back to Pan, who now joined in on the game of tag while Kezz watched humorously as Giru was 'it'.

"A very wise answer," the General told Trunks before following his gaze and smirking. "Tell me Saiyan, for I am curious. Are you siblings with that girl or am I right to assume she is your mate?"

Trunks looked at him and stepped back with a start. "Wha-wha-well, neither," he stuttered with a shocked expression on his face as his mouth was left ajar from the sudden inquiry.

The General snorted impulsively. "Neither?" he asked in a slightly mocking tone. "That is impossible Saiyan, either she is related to you by blood or not, which is it?"

For a good minute, Trunks thought hard about his question, but finally answered hesitantly, "not."

"Then she is your consort; one of you has already established this, it is obvious since you travel together and by the way you stick beside each other," said the General.

Trunks sighed in exasperation; why did everyone have to concern themselves with this subject all the time? "It's that obvious is it?"

"My Boy you have no idea." Troh-Rok chuckled as an amused look glazed over his fiery eyes before seriousness returned to them. "Though it is not a shameful thing; your race was thought to be extinct, is it not your duty to keep your bloodline alive?"

Trunks sighed again and looked to see Pan tackle Giru while the small robot sounded something about 'danger'. "With all honesty General, she's too young, I mean look at her, she's still just a kid," Trunks indicated with his good arm to the playing field.

Troh-Rok took his eyes toward the game of tag, which was more like a game of tackle and run now, before looking back to Trunks again, all seriousness reigned on his face. "Too young? May I ask you, when she would not be too young? Are you too young? I regret my ignorance in this matter, for these are not things I trouble myself in contemplation."

Trunks had to blink, dumbfounded for awhile before he was able to discern all that was said. "I'm sorry General, is there some conclusion you want me to come to by this conversation? Or are you trying to reach a question that you haven't yet mentioned?" the half-Saiyan wanted to know.

Troh-Rok chuckled again. "You catch on quickly Saiyan. Aye, I have reserved a question, but you have already answered it."

Trunks' eyebrows curved as he looked up at the General in confusion; how did he answer a question when it wasn't even asked? "Let me explain first by asking a question. Would you consider us allies Trunks?" Troh-Rok questioned.

Trunks gazed up at the virtuous face of the General, this creature was someone Trunks knew he could trust with his life, he wasn't sure how or why, but he knew as he nodded solemnly and added with a hint of humor, "aye."

The General chuckled; these Saiyans were the most amusing thing to ever grace this city. "Very good, for you have earned my trust as well, now I shall explain. Please, come," said Troh-Rok as he gracefully dropped to all fours and urged Trunks to follow him.

Trunks did, but first looked to Pan until she averted her attention to him momentarily. He waved and Pan waved back, clearly getting the message and turning back to the game.

"We as Trentore have a ritual with our Brotherhood of cities across the planet," Troh-Rok began as the two of them walked through the streets of the city; Trentore and other species of children ran across their path, and it didn't seem to phase the General as he continued. "You see, a long time ago our ancestors experienced a massive sickness that slowly killed off only the royal lineage of our major cities, might you take a guess of the sickness of which I speak?"

Trunks lowered his eyes to the ground in deep thought, but was unable to think of a sickness which only seemed to target the royal line. "My only guess would be assassinations, but that is not a sickness," he said finally as they approached a park area which was surprisingly flourishing with trees and plant life, considering they were in the middle of a desert.

"That would have been my guess had I not known the answer," said Troh-Rok, inclining his head slightly. "I will explain though. Now, back then, our reigning king was old, his mate had died along with their three heirs and he was very ill. Now with no heir to his throne he ordered all the medical researchers to concentrate on the cause of this sickness instead of trying to find out ways to cure it. Not long after that and he died, his bloodline died with him and there was much deliberation over the next king, however that is not my point," explained the General, now they were walking down a path through the tropical-like park, while workers tended to the plants and Trunks was beginning to wonder if the General was ever going to get to the point.

"Soon after his death the cause of the sickness was revealed," Troh-Rok went on. "Because of a law our race followed from the beginning of imperial rule, nobles were only to marry nobles, therefore after centuries of this law, an illusive sickness began picking off random heirs and relatives of the royal line one by one."

"Inbreeding," Trunks answered when the gears finally clicked in his mind.

"Aye," Troh-Rok said and continued. "Ever since then, we have exercised a very successful solution. In each city on this planet there is a chosen royal line, and records are now kept of one's lineage, this brings me to the ritual I spoke of before. You see, when a Trentore is born of a royal bloodline it is then traded with another from a fellow city, this fulfills two purposes, the first being that it protects our royal bloodlines but the second reason we do this is because it is the very essence of trust between our Brothers, our Allies. For it is beyond words to express the pain of that when a child is taken from its parents."

Trunks took a moment to meditate on the General's words but he still could not link the story with their earlier discussion. "Troh-Rok, I'm sorry but I forgot why you even started telling me this," he told the large Trentore sadly.

"That is good, it means you were paying attention," said the General with a smirk, amused with himself. "My point is that you and Pan Son are my allies now Trunks and I would have suggested this trade with you; however it is quite apparent you have no offspring, which is what I meant when I said you answered my silent question."

A shade of red played across the half-Saiyan's face as he shook his head in a fluster. "Besides that how would that work with a Saiyan?" he wanted to know, and was becoming quite uncomfortable being labeled as one, much less saying it himself.

"It does not matter Trunks, this ritual has been done with many other creatures, some of which came from the enemy as a sign of trust when a cease fire was issued," Troh-Rok told him.

"Well, I have to say, it was an interesting discussion Troh-Rok, but I really should go get the ship now," Trunks said, hoping the General would make this easy.

"Aye, you should, that is why I have brought you here," the General told him as he led him through the last area of the park and towards a large building with two brick double-doors and above them, two swords crossed blades, indicating that this was the building where training of the soldiers took place. Troh-Rok crossed to the building and proceeded to open the heavy double-doors with little effort. He turned to Trunks and held his forearm toward the training soldiers. "It is time to recruit your army Trunks, however small it may be."

---

AN: Well there were some little historic facts about the Trentore race, hope I didn't bore you, but I'm sort of building up the characters for a climactic battle on Trentore, hope you stay tuned, it should be good, I have many plans for this planet.


	26. Knowing your Enemy

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in this story except Kezz, I claim him and the Trentore race but nothing else.  
**

Authors Note: Hey I appreciate everyone's reviews, and I don't care if they are simple like "Good Show" I am perfectly happy with that, so Redwind you get ten points for being an example to all the readers out there that don't review, and Kate you get five points because you told me to do homework, and everyone else gets whatever I randomly decide to throw out there. Don't ask me what the points are for, I'll figure it out later!

**Chapter Twenty Six - Knowing your Enemy**

"All right men, listen up!" bellowed Troh-Rok. "I have a mission for you. This here is your new Commander, his name is Trunks and if he picks you, then you go with him to retrieve his ship, understood?"

The soldiers stopped their training exercises immediately and stood erect as they all answered with a profound: "Yes Sir!"

"Very good," said the General as he looked down to Trunks. "Choose wisely, the largest is not always the smartest, and you should be cautious since you very well might be walking into a skirmish."

With a certain nod, Trunks approached the soldiers, who were now lined up shoulder to shoulder. As he walked past each of them, some looked at him and could hardly keep a straight face, others had a slight scowl, while still others couldn't wipe the astonished look off their face. All of them stood at least five feet higher than Trunks and those were the smallest ones.

In the end, he chose six of the bulkiest, biggest Trentore, while the remaining nine were the ones he seen intelligence or respect in their faces, however there was one he picked that mainly had fighting on his mind, Trunks noted but chose him anyway, for the sole purpose _of_ fighting incase a battle _did_ occur.

When Trunks stepped beside Troh-Rok again, the chosen fifteen soldiers lined up in front of them, awaiting orders. "Highest ranking officer, report," Troh-rok ordered.

"Aye Sir," replied one as he stepped forward. "Lieutenant," he added; he was not the biggest Trentore Trunks had chosen but he was still a bit bigger than Kezz.

"Very well Lieutenant, you will be in command of this unit when Trunks is not present, you will also be in charge of prepping this company before your mission, be sure you arm for battle as well as your hauling harnesses, the key mission is to retrieve a ship," briefed the General before turning and leaving as Trunks followed.

It was only until they were half way through the park again that Trunks realized he had forgotten something. "General, I haven't talked to Pan or Kezz about this yet," he looked at the heavy Trentore, concerned.

"Aye, what is the problem?" Troh-rok wondered.

"You just had me pick out my army, but I haven't even decided on the agreement yet, about Pan staying I mean," Trunks said.

The General chuckled before answering. "Trunks, even if you do not agree, I have decided on appointing you to that unit, incase there should be a battle, so whether you decide to take them or not is completely up to you," Troh-rok told him.

"Wow," Trunks whispered as he stared at the ground in amazement. "You think everything out thoroughly, don't you?"

"My Boy, it is my job, I am not a General because of my size, I tell you right now," replied Troh-Rok with a hint of humor in his voice.

On returning to the marketplace Troh-Rok and Trunks were met by Pan whom apparently was waiting for them. "Hey Trunks, how'd it go?" she asked, a little hesitant as she looked up to the, now towering, Troh-Rok.

Trunks looked from her to Troh-Rok and when the Trentore nodded, Trunks answered. "Well, Troh-Rok has agreed to lend us some of his soldiers in order to bring the ship here, but in exchange you have to stay here while we're gone," the half-Saiyan explained.

At first Pan frowned, but then realized how important it was to retrieve the ship and she forced a smile. "Oh, ok, that works out I guess," she said.

Trunks looked at her sympathetically; he could see straight through her mask. "Your mission is as important as ours Pan, you need to stay here and protect these people," he told her.

At this point Troh-Rok decided to add his two cents. "Aye, for myself it is more important Pan Son, please, I would have you defend this city over any of your companions."

"Go for it Trunks, I'll do my part and stay here," Pan said with a nod of her head.

"Ok, now we just have to wait for the soldiers," Trunks said, looking to Troh-Rok.

"It will not take them long, they will be waiting outside the gates when you are ready," said the General.

"What? But don't they have to come through town?" Trunks wondered.

"We have an underground passage beneath the city, and it opens up outside the gates from the recruitment room, where you chose your unit," explained Troh-Rok.

"Unit?" Kezz asked when he approached.

"Aye, I have appointed Trunks, Commander of a unit containing fifteen Trentore soldiers, to take in retrieving his ship, and to take into battle," answered the General. "Don't worry Captain, you will be given your own unit after you and Trunks return with the ship," he added, looking to Kezz.

Kezz slowly shook his head. "I am sorry General; I do not feel worthy to command a unit so soon after my return."

Troh-Rok hummed with a bit of disapproval but complied nonetheless. "Very well, I await the time when you reclaim your previous title, until then I assume you know you are a free agent to do as you will on the battlefield."

Kezz bowed his head in a minor nod and then examined Trunks, surmising his fitness for battle. "Trunks, you have no weapon, and your arm should be tended before our departure."

Trunks looked at his injured forearm and nodded to Kezz. "It would be nice if I could get someone else to bandage it," the half-Saiyan replied. "But Kezz, you know better than anyone that Pan and I don't need weapons to fight."

"Aye, that I do know, but with these enemies I warn you, you will want a weapon," Kezz told him.

When Trunks was about to inquire the reason, Troh-Rok spoke up. "What Kezz-Tire speaks is the truth, it is advised that you do not enter combat with this enemy without a weapon, because they are poisonous, and if you touch them it will take you a week to recover, and that is only if you are treated immediately," the General finished.

"That brings me to another question; it's something I've been wondering for awhile now," said Trunks.

Kezz and Troh-Rok urged him to continue with a nod and Pan listened patiently. "Tell me about your enemies, what are they called and what do they look like?" Trunks wanted to know.

Kezz and Troh-Rok exchanged glances but Kezz motioned his forepaw for Troh-Rok to explain. "Knowing One's enemy is a very respectable virtue Trunks, but first may I ask, out of curiosity, what your guess might be?" the General quizzed.

Trunks looked to the ground, hand upon his chin in contemplation. He stood there for a moment and then answered. "Well the first things that come to my mind when you say poisonous, would be reptiles, scorpions, and spiders," Trunks concurred.

The General looked to Kezz, and Kezz to him, both had a confident pride in their features before returning their attention to Trunks. "Aye, you would be correct with reptiles," Troh-Rok replied. "Their race is called Ralerphere, they stand upright, as you do now, and they have three sections of species, the most powerful of these three, and present emperor of their nation, is that of dragons, the second, lizards, and the third, snakes, all three of them poisonous. They range in size from that of Pan Son to that of myself, and they do not appoint commanders by personal evaluation, meaning they choose by breed, not by education, thus they make the dragons of their race the Generals of their armies while the lizards and snakes make up the average soldiers. They are a very callous race and they thirst for nothing but combat and ruler ship." The General sighed; he was not looking forward to the immanent battle that approached.

A few seconds of silence passed and Pan decided to jump in with her own thoughts. "What about that other nation Kezz? You said there was three, counting yourselves." She looked at the brown scaled Trentore, her face inquisitive.

Kezz smiled at her and then motioned for Troh-Rok to explain again. "Of course, that would be the third world power on this planet, Blainfirr is what they are called, but they have been inactive in the war for about a year now because of a cease fire they issued with us, since then we have not had any trouble with them, but some rumors have spread that they are simply building up their army, meant to destroy both us and the Ralerphere in one brisk massacre. But that is merely a rumor, one that I do not support, because in comparison with the Ralerphere, the Blainfirr have a sense of honor and mercy, thus myself and Generals from our neighboring cities are contemplating the plan of forming a truce and to join together in order to defeat the Ralerphere annoyance once and for all," explained the General.

Both Pan and Trunks nodded. "So what do they look like? The Blainfirr I mean," Pan asked, the question directed to Troh-Rok.

"Well, I could explain, or I could just show you firsthand," said Troh-Rok as he motioned for a young male Trentore to approach. "Retrieve our young Blainfirr heir," ordered the General.

The smaller Trentore nodded and rushed off to carry out his errand. "In the meantime you can go see about your arm, I will find the both of you when he comes," Troh-Rok told Trunks. "Kezz-Tire, I assume you know where to take them?"

Kezz complied and led the way. "Come, if I remember correctly the medicine here will have you healed within two days," said the former Captain.

Trunks immediately followed, however, Pan hesitated; she wanted to see the Blainfirr. But when Trunks called to her, she followed and they entered a dark green tent, Kezz pushed the drape back and moved in first while Pan and Trunks trailed in after him.

The room was set up as a shop and was lit up by candles and lamps upon a merchant counter in the back of the tent while the rest of the tent was filled with shelves supporting potions and ointments.

An old female Trentore stood behind the counter reading a book, glancing at her new customers she smiled and motioned for them to come closer. It was apparent that she was old because her wolf-like face was wrinkled and the horns on her head were slowly decaying with cracks.

It being her job, the female Trentore quickly spotted Trunks' bandaged forearm and came around the counter to examine it, rather forcefully I might add. "What happened here?" she asked, pulling his arm up so as to see it better in the light.

"Ah," Trunks whined. "Easy, easy," he pleaded.

"Oh shush, don't be a big baby," rebuked the old Trentore. "One of you unwrap it for him, I will get the healing ointment."

"She sounds like my mother," Trunks whispered to Pan as he rubbed his arm gently. She giggled a bit as she helped him un-wrap the bandage.

"My hearing has not yet left me young one," replied the elder Trentore.

Both Trunks and Pan cringed while Kezz chuckled. "Watch your step Trunks, she can do no literal harm to you, but still, wisdom deserves respect, for it is respect that someday may reward you with respectable wisdom," said the brown Trentore after the old one had moved into another part of the tent.

"I'm sorry, but she wasn't exactly gentle about it," Trunks replied as his defense.

Kezz breathed in a laugh of humor but quickly winced as Pan pulled away the remnants of the wraps and she couldn't help but make a gasp noise through her teeth as she looked away at the sight of his arm; the wound was anything but pretty, the blade had obviously went straight through the middle of his forearm, and Pan now wondered why he wasn't complaining more about it than he had been.

When the old Trentore returned, she held a small flask in one hand and small jar of ointment in the other while a roll of bandages were tucked under her arm, she held up the flask. "Drink this." Then she held up the jar. "Before you apply this."

When she gave the flask to Trunks and the other two items to Pan, Trunks opened his mouth to ask about the flask in his hand but the elder held up a forepaw to silence him. "Don't ask, just do it," she told him sternly then waved her forepaws and shooed them outside. "Do that four times a day, for three days, and your arm should be healed by then." With that, the trio was outside and the old Trentore disappeared behind the curtain of her tent.

Trunks eyed the flask in his good hand, and then looked to Kezz. "This isn't going to knock me out is it?"

"It is doubtful," Kezz replied with a shrug as he smirked. "I am fairly certain it is simply a pain reliever,"

"Pain reliever? Give me that," Pan swiped the flask out of Trunks' grasp and took a small gulp; she made a disfigured face as she handed it back to him. "It tastes like grapefruit juice mixed in a mustard jar with pickles!" she growled as she pawed at her tongue attempting to rid her mouth of the abhorrent taste.

Trunks stared at her, confounded that she just did that. "What do _you_ need pain reliever for?"

"Well what else? It's that time of the month, so it's probably best that I'm not going with you," Pan said as she also handed him the bandages and ointment. "And our ship isn't going to come to us by itself, so get to it," she told him, as if having authority, then started walking in the direction of their tent.

"But Pan, aren't you going to give me a hug or something? Kezz and I could be going straight into a battle," Trunks called to her.

Pan waved a hand over her head but didn't turn to look at him. "Whatever Trunks, just make sure you get the ship back in one piece."

"We could die out there!" Trunks shouted after her and then looked to Kezz, hopelessly, the Trentore merely shrugged. "_Now_ who's going to help me with my bandage?"

Kezz chuckled and started towards the gates. "Perhaps you can ask the General for some assistance, I'm sure he knows someone who can help you."

Dumbfound by Pan's response, Trunks followed close behind his Trentore companion. _"That time of the month."_ Pan had never said that before, but Trunks knew exactly what it meant because his mother and sister would often answer the same way if they happened to be asked about their mood. And that was _another_ thing, if Pan was going to be having mood swings for the next few days then Trunks was going to have to be watching what he said and did more closely.

He sighed, something told him that there was nothing in hell or Earth like the calamity her mood swings would cause, and he did not envy the enemy's health if they planned to attack in the near future.

When they joined up with the General and Trunks' chosen soldiers outside the gates, the first thing Trunks noticed was the adolescent lion which stood beside the General. His mane was half grown and he resembled Earth's lions to perfection aside from one major exception, all four of his paws burned, or rather didn't burn, orange and red flares. The small fires danced and moved as though they were actual fire, however, they did not burn the lion's fur they simply pretended to burn his paws, on each paw, as if it was a decoration.

With a cant of his head Troh-Rok looked to Trunks. "Where is Pan Son?"

"I think she went back to our tent," Trunks answered. "Is he one of the Blainfirr?" he wondered indicating the lion that stood beside the General.

Troh-Rok glanced down to young lion. "Aye, this is Pheonere, the Nephew of the current King of the Blainfirr nation," announced the General.

"It is good to meet you Trunks, I am told you mean to protect the city, this makes me glad for I have grown very much attached to the people here," Pheonere spoke up and approached the half-Saiyan and proceed to offer his paw in a grasp of trust.

Trunks was hesitant to say the least, but that burning paw would make anyone hesitate to touch it wouldn't it? Pheonere smiled when Trunks faltered. "It only burns those who do not trust, Trunks." The young lion lowered his head an inch and made eye contact. "Do you trust me?" he asked, his paw still waiting to be met.

Finally Trunks took a deep breath and, with his good hand mind you, (meaning he would have none left to fight with if this turned out bad) firmly grasped the lion's paw, shaking it and watching the flame engulf his hand but not burn it, he let out his breath in a sigh of relief.

Pheonere grinned, freely exposing the long white daggers in his mouth. "I am sorry Trunks, I must confess, these flames only burn those whom I see fit, it does not matter upon your trust," admitted the lion.

Trunks sent an absent glare, first at Kezz, but then also to Tro-Rok since both seemed to be snickering at this point. "I apologize Trunks, I hadn't mentioned before, Pheonere is a bit of a jester if you understand my meaning," the General explained humorously.

"Mm-hum, well Pheonere, I thank you for not barbequing my good hand because my other one needs this one to tend to it," Trunks told the young lion.

Troh-Rok frowned at the sight of his arm. "Did you not get someone to help you?"

"Eh well you see I got the medication but Pan left before I had it wrapped," explained Trunks.

"Very well, come, we will get you armed and fitted with a weapon as well," said the General, as he dropped to all fours and led the way back through the open gates.

Trunks was about to follow when he turned to Kezz. "Go, start leading them to the ship, I'll catch up with you." When Kezz gave him an odd look, Trunks added, "Just show them where to go, the lieutenant will do the rest."

"I would be drinking that flask about now," Kezz advised and, with steady nod, turned from the half-Saiyan and proceeded to show the soldiers the way while Trunks and Pheonere followed Troh-Rok back into the city in order to get Trunks' arm treated.

---

AN: Ok if you liked the chapter for some reason, or if you didn't for some reason, please, _tell me_, all you gotta do is click that little 'Go' button and tell me what you thought about this chapter. That's it, and it would make me very happy. And if you want to flame me, go ahead! It's another number for my review stat!


	27. Securing the Ship

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in DBZ/GT, however, I DO own Kezz, the Trentore, the Ralerphere, and the Blainfirr species.**

**Chapter Twenty Seven – Securing the ship**

After Trunks had gotten his forearm tended, he was given a small bag to carry the medicine and bandages, and he was on his way to be fitted with armor and a weapon when Ledgic suddenly landed near him. "What's going on? I heard something about a battle."

Trunks looked at the warrior placidly for a second but then continued to follow Troh-Rok. "Follow Kezz, we are half-way expecting a battle for the ship, I'm going to catch-" Ledgic was gone. Trunks shook his head hopelessly and watched the swordsman surge past the gates as sand flew up in his wake.

"Come Trunks, it takes longer than you think to be fitted," Troh-Rok called, ignoring Ledgic's presence and departure as he opened the large wooden door to the armory and waited for Trunks to catch up.

Pheonere blinked in confusion and drew beside Trunks as they entered the armory building. "What kind of friend leaves while the other still speaks?" asked the Blainfirr.

As the three walked through the doorway a hallway immediately opened up to them with shields and swords hanging on either wall serving as ornaments. "Well that was Ledgic, he lives for battle and really nothing else," Trunks said and added, "and I wouldn't exactly call him my friend right now."

"Oh," said Pheonere as they continued down the hallway with Troh-Rok in the lead. "So it is similar to the situation the Trentore and my kind are in, we label each other neither ally nor enemy."

"Right," replied Trunks. "So Pheonere, I've been wondering something, how did you come to be here? You said you have grown attached to the people here, does that mean you used to live with other Blainfirr?"

"I was traded for the cease fire almost a year ago, in exchange for the General's-" Pheonere paused when Troh-Rok faced them.

"My eldest son was traded to the Blainfirr, and Pheonere to us, however, if the new truce goes through then we will be able to trade them back, hopefully," explained the General sadly as they came to the main part of building.

Trunks pondered momentarily on Troh-Rok's words; something was odd about his tone, he seemed happy about getting his son back, and yet he seemed fond of Pheonere. This subject was going to take some deciphering, later, Trunks concluded and focused his mind on his surroundings.

The weaponry was set up on the right, and the armor on the left side of the building. Swords, spears, and other assorted bladed weapons decorated the walls and stands, while the shields, chain mail, and metal plates mainly hung on the wall.

"What armor would you have Trunks?" asked Troh-Rok as a small alien merchant approached. "We need to know so we can fit you, then you may choose your weapon while you wait."

"I'm sorry General, but armor isn't exactly something I need," Trunks answered.

Troh-Rok nodded. "Very well, that is your decision," said the General. "You are that confident in your speed?"

"Yeah I think I'll be fine."

When the small alien came forward, he seen Trunks' bandaged arm and proceeded to measure it. "You will need an arm guard for this," said the merchant.

"He is right Trunks, if poison were to hit you there, your arm would more than likely have to amputated," Troh-Rok added.

A cringe suddenly set itself on the half-Saiyan's features; he had grown quite attached to his left arm! "An arm guard sounds great, where are the arm guards?" Trunks rattled off nervously.

The merchant nodded and half turned. "And a gauntlet for the other arm Sir?"

Trunks looked to his right hand momentarily before absently nodding to the merchant therefore sending the alien on his way to retrieve the armor. "Now," Troh-Rok said. "What is your preferred weapon Trunks? I strongly recommend a long weapon, but the spears lack power, so I leave it up to you to choose."

Trunks followed the General as he stepped in front of the wide variety of weaponry. Trunks quickly passed up the spears and stopped when he came upon the long swords. "I'm more familiar with swords," he said with the slightest smile on his mouth. He lifted one from its stand on the wall and examined its thick, shining blue metal blade and all the way down to the gold plated hilt which fit comfortably in his right hand.

"The one exception, the long swords are a good combination of power and reach." Troh-Rok admitted and proudly added, "it suits you."

---

Trunks stood outside the city gates, fully outfitted and ready to depart. He thanked Troh-Rok and Pheonere and burst into the air in the direction of his newly assigned troops.

_His_ newly assigned _troops_, Trunks mused; such an absurd notion, going from a prisoner pawn to a troop commander, how odd. He shook his head of any and all domineering concepts; a prince by blood he may very well be, but mentally he had no desire to rule over anyone.

Trunks grit his teeth as he ingrained the thought into his mind. "I have no desire to command, I only accepted this position in order to get our ship back, that's all, this has nothing to do with me being a prince, which I am not." He nodded to himself, satisfied with his resolve, and increased his speed in order to catch up with his- er_ the_ company, he just so happens to be in charge of _the_ company at the moment.

Moments, and countless sand dunes, later Trunks had caught up with Kezz and the rest of the troops, none of which showed any signs of fatigue so far, and yet they, each one of them, bore their own weapons and hauling harnesses.

"Remarkable armor Trunks, and your weapon, a sword. I won't lie, it's what I expected you to choose," greeted Kezz as Trunks landed near him.

"I'm most familiar with a sword, but I doubt I'll need to use it, I should be able to fend the enemy off with energy blasts," replied Trunks. "How much further to the ship, do you know?"

Kezz nodded. "Not much longer. Now that you're here, we can speed up if you wish, however, the troops will need rest after we secure the ship."

"That's fine, but if we speed up, will they have enough energy to fight, if there is a battle?" Trunks wanted to know.

"If it please you Commander," said the lieutenant. "We are all fully prepared for battle, speeding our pace will not effect our fighting abilities."

Trunks looked from the lieutenant to Kezz, whom nodded, and Trunks agreed to speed up; the sooner they secured the ship, the sooner they could rest. "Okay, give the order Lieutenant," Trunks said and took to the air again, hoping to see the ship soon.

"But Commander, you're to give the orders-" started the lieutenant, but soon realized it was futile to object.

"He's not used to being in charge, just give the order Lieutenant," stated Kezz as he started forward, the rest of the troops began to follow him after the order to speed up was announced.

---

"I just can't understand, what makes it move? Explain it to me again, please?" pleaded Pheonere, a bewildered Giru lay squirming under the Blainfirr's paws.

"I told you Pheonere, he's a robot, he eats metal and then he functions, that's what makes him move, man how do you people not know what a robot is?" Pan replied, her hand supporting her chin in boredom as she sat on the brick of a water fountain.

The trio were located in the middle of the market place; the place hummed with Trentore and their alien residents as they went along with their daily routines.

Pheonere remained crouched forward in a playful posture as he continued to bat the tiny robot out of curiosity with his enormous cat paws. "I don't think this planet has robots Pan-Son, at least, I've never seen one before. It's amazing," said the Blainfirr, enthusiasm being his dominant feature at the moment.

"GiruGiru!" shouted the robot nervously. "Pan save Giru! Giru, Giru."

Pheonere, being the humorous trickster that he was, smirked and sparked his paws to red-orange flames, though harmless, they were also very convincing, especially for Giru because he immediately started bleeping and Giru-ing over and over in a panic.

"What's amazing is you, Pheonere, I bet with fire, your species is really powerful," Pan said in awe.

"Um, yeah, I guess you could say that..." The young lion sighed and drew himself to a sitting position, therefore released the struggling robot from under his paws. "The thing is, to really make a difference against a Trentore or a Ralerphere, we have to engulf our entire body with the flame, or be able to use it as a long range attack."

"What are you talking about? Doesn't a fiery slash do the job?" Pan asked with a cant of her head.

"Well," Pheonere began, "what I mean is, the Blainfirr hardly match up to the size of the Trentore, that's obvious, so the only way the Blainfirr stand a chance is either by our numbers, or by engulfing our entire body with the flame, but to do this is to be a master, and few have mastered it."

"Why is that? You seem to have perfect control, can't you do it?" Pan asked, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Pheonere chuckled, his humor seemed mostly deriving from her bluntness. "Well, yes I could, but I would likely die in the process. You see, it takes time and training to tame the fire, you have to learn control over it through time and training, and even then, some of us never seem to reach our full potential, most the time the flame over takes us before we're ready," Pheonere said, his tone grave when he finished.

"Oh," she muttered shamefully. "I didn't realize it was so serious. So you mean it's taken you, your whole life just to master-"

"My gauntlets," Pheonere finished for her. "Yes it has taken me this long to reach this point of fire mastery, but without someone to learn from, my growth is stunted really."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Pan started but was, again, cut off.

"Pheonere is not stunted, in fact he is progressing well, he just does not know it," Troh-Rok objected as he approached.

Pheonere rolled his eyes after glancing in the General's direction. "So you say," he muttered.

"I speak the truth Pheonere, I would not lie to you," Troh-Rok stated, his eyes soft and almost hurt.

Pheonere sighed. "I know, I know," he muttered and hung his head. "Can we talk about something else please, this subject tends to bore me."

Troh-Rok chuckled. "Aye we can. Will both of you come with me?" They both stood up as the General started for his destination. "I got to thinking after Trunks left, Pan-Son, we need to get you outfitted for battle as well, I fear combat is closer than expected."

"Okay, but just so you know, I don't really like to be weighed down," Pan said, "and I've never been trained with a weapon..."

"Very well, perhaps just some arm guards like Trunks?" Troh-Rok asked, turning his bulky head to look down at her; even as he walked on all fours he still towered above her a good five feet.

Pan only nodded; uncertainty and anxiety overwhelmed her, for some reason being under that large Trentore General's gaze made her feel inferior, but that didn't make much sense considering all the countless alien monsters and other intimidating people she'd met throughout her lifetime. She'd have to meditate on it later though, Troh-Rok was talking, and Pan had learned through experience, when a Trentore spoke, it was more than likely something important.

"-and then you may choose your weapon, afterward I will find you a trainer and I'm sure you will have time to learn to wield whatever weapon you wish to master," said the General.

Pan nodded again, she hoped the first part of his sentence wasn't deathly important. "So Troh-Rok, would there be any chance, _you_ could be my trainer, I want to learn from the best after all," Pan said, her features consisted of a simple smile coupled with pleading eyes; there was something about Troh-Rok that demanded respect, even from her, and she wanted to know why.

The General stopped in his steps and he looked to Pan a bit bewildered. "Well, I could, if that's what you want Pan-Son, yes of course, I would delight in training you to handle a weapon."

Pheonere attempted an impressive whistle, failing miserable but the point was drawn. "That's a brave request, few stand up to the _General's_ training," he observed, amused.

Troh-Rok spun his massive head around to face the Blainfirr. "Now see here Youngling, you survived and you're all the better for it."

The two seemed to go on bickering with one another, in a friendly way, mind you and Pan managed to block them out as they came to the armory, the same one Trunks had been to previously and he got arm guards. _So he was expecting a battle_, Pan thought. Now she really wished she could have gone with him. A battle seemed so exciting right now, but then, from what Troh-Rok had said, she wouldn't need to wait long before there was one here.

---

Trunks grimaced as he beheaded a snake soldier of the Ralerphere troop. They had surrounded the ship when Trunks charged into the fray while Kezz and the other Trentore joined him shortly thereafter.

The severed head dropped along with its limp body but not before leaving a slimy residue on Trunks' torso. He stared at the disgusting liquid in bewilderment, unsure of what to think of it. Suddenly he heard a shouting and was only able to look up to see Kezz bulldozing towards him, it was only after Kezz had bit down and ripped the stained part of his gi off that Trunks remembered about the Ralerphere's poison. He stared at the top part of gi, now on the ground as it quickly deteriorated by way of the poison. "You must be more cautious Trunks, from that location the poison would have killed you in a matter of minutes," Kezz warned.

"Sorry, that was the first time I used a sword in a long time, and I was surprised he got me even though I killed him," explained Trunks as he backed up to Kezz and Kezz to him, Ralerphere surrounded them now and they had yet to fight their General, whom remained a good distance away from the fighting. "Coward!" Trunks growled as he slashed and sent another snake to the ground. "Why doesn't he fight with his men?"

"Troh-Rok said it himself, the General's the Ralerphere pick are not from personal evaluation, but from breeding!" Kezz replied, fending off his own adversaries with a lance, swinging and impaling it into the enemy. "He is a dragon, and if he does join the battle then we will need to face him together, you will need my experience, for they are as big as a Trentore but with wings."

Trunks scowled at the multiple targets before him; it would take hours at this rate. He sheathed his blade and powered up slightly, just enough to send a number of ki blasts in order to buy enough time to transform into level one of Super Saiyan.

Kezz only spared himself a second to glance back at his comrade, whom had began roaring as he transformed. The brown Trentore found a new inspiration by Trunks' transformation let out a roar himself, which seemed to serve its purpose, for a few Ralerphere yelped in fear.

After making quick work of the army that had surrounded them, Trunks and Kezz both nodded to each other and started toward the Ralerphere's leader, leaving the other Trentore to their own respective skirmishes, only to find that Ledgic had already begun fighting with the dragon General.

"I should have known," Trunks mused. "Let's pick off the other soldiers!" he offered to Kezz and they both split off to do so.

---

AN: You might notice, that I tend to do a lot of split ups, or skips, when I have writers block, sorry if that annoys some people, but I find that it's the only way to get me out of my ditch.


	28. Small Battles Won

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in DBZ/GT, however, I DO own the Trentore, the Ralerphere, and the Blainfirr species.**

AN: Good job everyone, keep those reviews coming, and fyi, I'm not done surprising you yet, I still got a few ideas that might just make your eyes bug out a bit. And trust me, it'll be original. I laugh maniacally! Read on.

**Chapter Twenty Eight – Small Battles Won**

A dragon, Trunks knew about them well, however, the dragon General, armored with fire red scales and five tons of bulk, snarled and slashed at the swordsman rounding on him; something about this dragon was very different from Earth's dragons.

To start off, this wasn't a wise, powerful, or even a magical dragon at all, it was simply a creature born for war and fighting, and the term all brawn no brains seemed to serve him well. Claws, teeth, and wings whipped in every direction, never taking a moment to rest or regroup. This dragon was quick, but panicked and frustrated.

Trunks blasted another snake and glided through another with his sword; he made sure to dodge the poison this time. He glanced in Ledgic's direction and noticed that he hadn't struck the beast, rather, he was dodging and studying him, which only seemed to enrage the dragon more, thus tiring him faster.

After Trunks and Kezz had depleted the enemy troops to the point of retreating, without their General's orders mind you, all that was left over was the General himself, exhausted from rage and apprehensive from fear, he began backing away, desperate and panting.

Ledgic landed near Trunks, his face the picture of unsatisfied. "These creatures are beyond pathetic," he growled in annoyance, and barely glanced at Trunks' ripped gi. "Don't tell me they actually got you?"

"I don't know, I thought they did ok," Trunks replied neutrally. He held up his hand to Kezz, whom ceased his movements toward the retreating dragon. "Let him go, if Ledgic doesn't bother to fight him, then I don't see why we should bother either."

Kezz nodded. "Aye, that just means we can rest now."

---

"Very good Pan-Son, I believe you are better with a weapon than you originally thought," Troh-Rok spoke approvingly as Pan finished up her last training exercise with the long hammer axe she picked out of the Trentore's wide variety of weapons.

"Why thank you Sensei, that means I'm ready for a match with you right?" Pan wondered, she rested her heavy weapon on the ground and leaned on the handle as she gave her instructor an expectant stare.

"What?" Troh-Rok coughed. "Hardly, why not first try your hand with Pheonere, and then we will determine your level of weapon mastery."

Pheonere perked up from the sound of his name and effortlessly leaped off his perch from the top of a building and set himself before Pan in a lion's fighting stance, legs apart, shoulders slightly hunched, and lastly, his paws flared ablaze. "You do know you look ridiculous with such a large weapon," he stated as he tilted his head to one side.

Pan smirked in reply and kicked the side of the blade, flipping it up so as to place the staff part of the axe over her shoulders, bracing it with both hands. "I didn't choose it for looks."

"Mhm, well let's see if you can even hit me with it first, oh and should that happen, I would appreciate the hammer end, I might be able to live through that at least," Pheonere implored sarcastically.

"Enough talk students. Begin!" Troh-Rok bellowed and Pheonere moved first, he rounded on Pan with amazing speed, but Pan could track him easily and she waited for him to get closer before lunging forward and swinging the massive axe in a half circle, only stopping abruptly a few inches from Pheonere's whiskers as he froze, nearly terrified. He felt the wind rush past his face from the sheer velocity of her swing; if Pan didn't have control of her weapon, he would have been one head short of a lion pelt.

Both Pan and Pheonere remained still for a good moment before deep laughter was heard by their teacher. "Incredible, indeed I commend you Pan-Son, with the way you showed yourself with Pheonere, I do not think you will need to humble me just to prove your completeness with your weapon, please spare a large General his pride."

Pan smiled, satisfied with that and lowered her weapon. "Ok, fine, but if I get hit by a Ralerphere's poison I have you to blame for over estimating me," she said and slipped the staff of her axe in the loop of her weapon belt strapped to her torso.

Pheonere sighed in relief and dropped to lay on his stomach, his jaw resting on one of his forepaws. "I don't want to play with you anymore Pan, it's too dangerous."

---

"We can leave first thing in the morning, the troops should be plenty rested by then," Kezz reported to Trunks as they regrouped near the ship. It was past nightfall and the Trentore company was busy setting up camp along with a campfire.

"And the wounded?" Trunks inquired.

"There was only three casualties and they were minor, however, if they grow too tired then they can ride in the ship's cargo bay while the rest of the troops haul it," answered Kezz. He scrutinized Trunks suspiciously. "Are you sure you are new to this Commander thing? You seem as though you've done it before."

Trunks blanched. "N-no I'm not- I mean," he sighed in defeat as his companion was not softening his stare. "I suppose I was destined to rule, and I've even had to do it for a time, but that doesn't mean I like it, lording over anyone doesn't suit me, that's all."

Kezz nodded soberly. "I can relate fully Trunks, for right now I do not feel worthy at all to command another company, at least, not before I come to terms with the one I lost before I was captured."

His face looked pained, Trunks noted. "I'm curious, after that happened to you, what was it you wanted most at the time, Vengeance or Peace of mind?"

Kezz chuckled at the question. "Perhaps a little of both. But then, despair was a very powerful emotion for me at the time, I hadn't even thought of escaping that dreaded planet, I accepted my fate, that is, until Pan-Son arrived, she gave me something that even I withheld from myself."

"And what would that be?" Trunks wanted to know as he took a seat on the ground and Kezz imitated him.

"Courage," Kezz said, a new light shone on his features. "Courage to stand up for myself again. She was so full of energy and so optimistic, and then you came," Kezz mused aloud. "I have to say it inspired me, the way you two looked after each other, and the way you fought side-by-side in the arena was amazing."

Trunks smiled to himself as he released the latch on his arm guard in order to relax his wounded forearm. "I agree, she's very...spirited," he hesitated from a lack of a better term. "But I'm surprised that you of anyone would confuse her arrogance for courage."

"I believe some might mistake arrogance for fear, people sometimes feign arrogance to cover up their weaknesses," Kezz paused for emphases and stared off into the distance as he continued in a sagely voice, "or perhaps they might even go as far as to hide their pain in order to protect someone they care about." He glanced at Trunks among his horizon gazing only to assess the half-Saiyan's understanding.

Trunks sent him an amused sidelong glare; he knew exactly where this was going. "Are you implying something Kezz?"

"Me? Whatever could I be implying?" Kezz coughed, attempting to portray his innocence.

"Look, I was planning on telling her about my dreams once I understood more about what causes them," Trunks said. "I mean, how is she suppose to take it when I tell her I dream about her suffering and-or dying?" he vented earnestly; his anxiety was getting the better of him.

Kezz sighed as he met the half-Saiyan's desperate gaze with a troubled one of his own. "I do not think she would chastise you too terribly Trunks, not when your dreams most likely derive from your paranoia of her safety."

Trunks sighed as well; Kezz's theory would just have to do for now. He nodded in agreement and both were silent for a long time.

---

The next day, Trunks and his companions were on their way with the damaged ship and were now able see the city in the distance.

When they were roughly only an hour away from reaching their destination, Kezz hung his head as he helped haul the ship, he seemed troubled about something, Trunks noted and approached him. "Is something wrong Kezz?"

The brown Trentore turned his sulking head to look at Trunks, his eyes brightened some, but not much. "Aye, there is," he replied mournfully. "I have been told that all but one of my family still lives, and on top of that, he is orphaned in another city, North of us. I had planned to go and retrieve him, but it seems I'll be needed here soon, if I wish to have a safe place for him to come back to, that is."

Trunks nodded his head in contemplation before making his reply. "Well, I could go with you, that would cut the time it takes to get there and back in half, if not more," he offered.

Kezz beamed with a renewed hope. "That would work, but we should leave now, if we do at all."

Trunks nodded, his face brilliant with a purpose as he went to confirm this with the lieutenant, while Kezz removed his armor and weapons for the journey.

Afterward Trunks gathered whatever supplies they would need for two days and, un-clipping Kezz's hauling cable from the ship, he used it to lift the big creature into the air. "No sweat Kezz, I won't drop you too hard," he joked and Kezz saluted in a nervous slash sarcastic reply.

Well on there way to the Northern city, Trunks was able to carry Kezz like that for a long time, and when he finally did tire, it was the Trentore's turn to do the work while Trunks rode. One thing about Kezz, he could trot along at a very reasonable speed, however, the ride was very rocky and after awhile, Trunks decided that riding wasn't the most relaxing thing to do on this trip.

---

"What? They left? But where?" Pan demanded in a huff; Trunks and Kezz were suppose to be returning with the ship, after all if they didn't come back, then she couldn't leave.

"The Commander said he was accompanying Kezz-Tire to the Northern city," said the lieutenant to Troh-Rok. "That's all I was informed of I'm afraid."

The General nodded in compliance and dismissed him as he turned his attention to Pan. "I'm sure they just went to retrieve Kezz-Tire's orphaned nephew, I only hope they will return in time, otherwise, there's no telling how we will fair against the offending army," he told her, both of them now stared outside the open gates where the ship now sat, waiting for repairs, while the troops that hauled it, dispersed to their respective homes tiredly.

With a sigh of anxiety, Pan nodded her understanding. "Yeah, I don't want to have to do all the work."

Not a second later and Ledgic emerged from somewhere outside the gates and passed the both of them without a word. Pan smiled to Troh-Rok. "Never mind," she said humorously. "Ledgic can do all the work."

---

Darkness came quickly for the duo as they set up camp, knowing they would only get lost in the dark if they continued onward. Nothing of any real importance was mentioned between them other than occasional talk about the enemy's strategy on the attack of the city.

The next morning they reached the Northern Trentore city shortly after midday. This city had guards stationed outside the city walls as well. Kezz had to undergo the same interrogation as when they first spoke with Troh-Rok before, minus Pan's demonstration in order to gain passage, rather, this time Trunks decided to wait outside the gates while Kezz was admitted and entered to retrieve his nephew. "I will make this as quick as possible Trunks," he said before leaving the half-Saiyan outside to wait with the guards.

Trunks nodded to his comrade as the gates closed between them. Trunks turned his sight toward Typhoon City; he couldn't see it anymore but he had the general idea of it's location. He could only hope the fighting would hold off until they got back.

---

"General!" a soldier said urgently. "Our enemies flank the city, four of our scouts have all reported the same thing!"

High above the ground, atop the city's wall was where Troh-Rok stood, overlooking the vast landscape outside the city's borders. He growled and gave the soldier his full attention. "Rally our troops, bring all our remaining scouts in, we need everyone we can get," he ordered the soldier and he promptly went to carry it out. Troh-Rok then turned to another soldier standing at his post on the wall as well. "Send the word throughout the city: This is Level Two lock-down, all shops owners and refugees are two remain confined to their homes until this is over." The soldier nodded and complied and rushed off to distribute the message.

Troh-Rok sighed as he gazed over the horizon; there was a sandstorm in the distance, the perfect cover for an attack, not even from this high up could he see the approaching army, and that meant there was no way to tell how long it would take them to get here. Things were about to take a turn for the worst.

In the North end of the city Pan and Pheonere could be found in the garden, where Pheonere was showing Pan all the different plants and wildlife his planet produced, all the while Giru was constantly trying to discern whether or not some of the plants were appropriate for robot consumption.

Pheonere was in the middle of interpreting a certain plant, that really didn't look like a plant at all but would make a pop sound every five seconds accompanied by a bubble which floated into the pond where the plant called its home, when a flustered Trentore worker ran up to the trio. "By the General's orders you are either to report for battle or stay confined to your quarters!"

"The General's orders? What's going on?" Pan wanted to know.

"The enemy! They are coming, hurry up, there's no time for questions!" he answered before rushing out of the garden.

Pan and Pheonere exchanged glances but quickly followed in order to report to Troh-Rok; they were fighters!

When they found Troh-Rok he was talking to female Trentore just outside a building, the only thing odd about this scene was the fact that he was located in the middle of the city, or rather the residential area, and this was the first time Pan had seen him anywhere except from the general vicinity of the gates.

If Troh-Rok knew they were there, he didn't show it until they were within ear shot. He gave the both of them a stern look, but only because of the seriousness of the situation. "Pan-Son, Pheonere, tack up and prepare yourselves for battle, for it is upon us," he said urgently and expected them to hurry off as he nodded to the female as she disappeared into the building. She was cradling a baby Trentore in her arms, Pan observed before losing sight of her.

Pheonere was trying to herd her with his head but failed miserably as Pan seemed to be lost in thought. Troh-Rok averted his gaze to them again, this time he was a bit bemused. "What delays you Pan-Son? The fighting will start soon."

Pan looked up at him, a scenario was already playing in her mind. "Who was that Troh-Rok? I mean, for you to be away from command, that must have been a pretty important person."

Troh-Rok smiled warmly at her, something about her curiosity amused him. "That was my only remaining son, one I lost to the war two years ago, while another still lives with the Blainfirr," he explained while taking the role of a leader and heading in the direction of the armory. "The rest is a bit of a long tale."

Pan drew beside him, earnestly wanting to hear more. "Go on," she urged.

With an exasperated sigh Troh-Rok began, "About two weeks ago I was stationed at a Southeastern base when the Ralerphere attacked my family's town only a few miles away. Only a small fraction of our soldiers were posted to protect it, and the Ralerphere's attack was naught but a slaughter," he paused, his face grieved as he spoke. "When I finally got there it was too late for my mate, but she hid our son along with other children in a small underground cellar and they were all unharmed when we found them."

Pan nodded sadly as she walked beside him. "So, he's all you really have left," Pan observed quietly.

Troh-Rok cleared his throat and looked from Pheonere on his left and back to Pan on his right as he told them, "You two hurry up, there's no telling how soon the enemy will be here."

Pan and Pheonere nodded to each other and did as they were told and made haste to the armory.

It was fairly easy for Pan to be armed, the only things she chose was her Axe and the belt that held it.

Pheonere on the other hand, was another story. He had armor for all four paws and legs alike, his face dawned a similar helmet to which the Trentore royal guards wore. His entire body was clad in a royal blue cloth that had either the purpose of looks or was actually meant to protect him from minor cuts, either way it made him look regal, Pan noted. "Wow, they don't call you royalty for nothing," she told him.

Pheonere grinned under his helm. "And you look just as ridiculous as before," he replied.

Pan frowned, glancing momentarily at the axe hanging over her shoulders, which was half the size of her entire body. "Just wait till I start hacking snakes, I won't look so ridiculous then."

Pheonere was about to retort when Troh-Rok came between them. "You will not need to wait long," he said, looking out at the fine black line on the landscape; the sandstorm had passed and now the Ralerphere army could be easily seen from atop the city wall. Both Pan and Pheonere had regrouped there, since that seemed the place to be, and were now watching with Troh-Rok as the enemy army marched ever closer.

---

AN: Heehee, it's fun to skip around with two different scenes. Sorry if that was a little annoying for you guys, but it had to be done. Ok well I'm hoping to have some more fan art for this chapter next week, but for now, you'll just have to be happy with the pictures I drew of Trunks and his new armaments and Pan and her new axe. Go to my lookup for the link to my fanart.


	29. Battlefield Ablaze

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in DBZ/GT.**

AN: Ok let's recap shall we? In case anyone hasn't read my story recently I'll try to summarize the last few chapters so you're not totally lost. I'm also adding spell guides for a few things, like names and such.

On the planet Trentore a war rages on between three species native to their planet:

Trentore – Treh-n-toh-r: Giant scaled like creatures, with a wolf-like face and ram-like horns. They generally walk on their hind legs, but sometimes prefer all fours.

Blainfirr – Blay-n-fer: Basically a lion with the exception of having the element of fire at their command, however only a few have mastered the technique of engulfing one's entire body with the flame.

Ralerphere – Ral-er-fear: Lizard-men could be their nickname as they walk upright and fight with their forearms. They range from three different categories, snakes, lizards, and dragons.

In recent events the war has taken a turn for the worst. The Trentore heir to the throne has committed high-treason by allying himself, along with most of the Trentore army, with the Ralerphere. And now only a fifth of the Trentore army engages in an attempt of a coup d'état, this includes only individual cities that have taken their stand against their former prince. In response the Blainfirr, whom remained neutral for the most part of the war, consider to ally themselves with these lone Trentore cities. Pan and Trunks decide to help the Trentore and fight along side them.

Kezz – o0: A Trentore befriended by Pan on Slaves Arena. He is smaller than most of his species but he makes up for it with an intensity to match his larger counterparts, at least, Pan seems to think so.

Troh-Rok – Troh-rock: A Trentore General commander of the army stationed at Typhoon city. After a bit of persuading on Pan's part, he immediately took a liking to the Saiyan duo and is resolutely convinced that they will help win the war.

Pheonere – Feh-oh-near: A Blainfirr heir to the throne. He was traded to the Trentore city as proof of a cease fire and the start towards an alliance between the two species. He is quite capable of defending himself in battle, but he isn't much of a threat with his current level of fire mastery.

If you didn't understand all that babbling, well too bad, just read and enjoy the action in this chapter, along with a bit-o-fluff. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to add something: Trunks has a sword, Pan has an axe... use your imagination. I did, and it was fun.

**Chapter Twenty Nine – Battlefield Ablaze**

As the Ralerphere army grew ever closer, Troh-Rok similarly grew restless. "I will go assemble my troops into some kind of formation around the city," he said and looked like he was about to give both Pan and Pheonere another set of instructions when Pan held up her hand and set her axe in its belt.

"Wait," she said. "Let me try something first." She held her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes as she steadied her breathing in order to concentrate.

Troh-Rok ceased his movements and turned to watch along with Pheonere in bewilderment; they both seemed confused by her calm behavior.

A moment of silence passed and Pan decided she was ready, her eyes shot open, she pulled her hands back together, and finally, began chanting. "Ka...Me..." She set her sights on her targets as the tiny blue ball of energy collected in her hands. "Ha...Me..." Her teeth clenched as she struggled to harness all the energy, but she had done it once before, she reasoned, and scrutinized the enemy army due to strain before releasing her grandfather's attack. "HA!"

A trench, made of both ground and Ralerphere soldiers alike, was cut through the front lines, smoke and dirt trailed the energy beam's path as it soon died at the boundary of the Ralerphere army, putting a temporary halt on their march, and bit off a good sized piece of their numbers.

Pan stood panting, her arms hanging from exhaustion as she collapsed to one knee, her energy depleted. Both Troh-Rok and Pheonere rushed to her side and it was Pheonere who placed his paw on her shoulder to comfort her, his head low and his ears down with concern. "You over did it, didn't you?" he wondered curiously, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. It worked.

Pan smiled and nodded among her heavy breathing. "Yeah, afraid so," she said and turned to Troh-Rok towering above them, his own anxieties spread abroad his features. "I don't think I can fight for awhile. I'll need to rest a little."

The monstrous Trentore snorted. "On my own I could not have beaten that many Ralerphere in one day, but you managed to do it within a minute," he told her, shaking his head in amazement. "You take all the rest you need." He switched his eyes to Pheonere. "You stay here as well, should you decide to enter the fray, do it together, keep each other alive, understand?"

They nodded in unison and Troh-Rok set his course on the exit, his troops would need his leadership now more then ever. After seeing a dangerously destructive beam hit the battlefield like that, who in their right mind would head out to engage?

As Pan and Pheonere looked on at the soon-to-be battlefield, nothing but chaos and disorder could be seen as the Ralerphere scrambled around in fear and confusion. At least a fifth of their allies were now dead, not to mention there was now a big ditch in front of them and it would take time to climb down and then back up again, about the same amount of time it would take to go around it.

Pheonere smiled charmingly. "That should take them at least an hour to get all their troops across. You've done an amazing job already Pan."

Pan nodded and returned a similar smile. "Yeah, maybe by then I'll be ready to fight head on," she said as her breathing finally steadied.

The young lion laughed. "You did your fare share already Pan, let's do as we're told and leave the rest of the fighting to the others while we focus on staying alive. I can't imagine what would happen if Trunks returned only to find you injured... or worse," he said gravely, his eyes serious.

Pan nodded her head thoughtfully as she pondered on the thought, _"What would he do if something happened to me?"_

The two comrades watched below as Troh-Rok's newly assembled Trentore army began their way towards the battlefield, armed and prepped for combat. This would be where things went from bad, to worse.

---

It wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise, in fact, to say it in the least amount of words possible, it was a rush. The trip back to Typhoon city seemed to be nothing but raging wind and sand, due to the speed Trunks had set. It wasn't surprising though, his Super Saiyan form accomplished that easily, and considering the urgency of the war, he was contemplating the second level when Kezz called to him over the roaring wind around them. "Trunks! Land for a moment."

At that request, Trunks frowned slightly; he didn't have time to stop, but if Kezz had something to say, it must be important. He nodded down at his friend and slowed to land the two Trentore passengers softly on the ground. "Kezz, what is it, we don't have much time, and-" Trunks started.

"Aye, that's why you should go, now, leave us, we'll catch up. I promise," Kess told him and nudged him with his head forcefully in a mild gesture to shoo him off.

"But," Trunks looked at the small Trentore curled and sleeping in Kezz's harness.

"Hurry! If you don't get there in time we might not have a home to go to at all!" Kezz rumbled, even waking his nephew with a start.

To this, Trunks stared up at his large friend, but not a word nor a second more and he took off, it wasn't long and he pierced the distance with one level higher and two Trentore less.

The Trentore watched him fade into the distance and quickly disappeared altogether. The younger one squeaked a yawn and questioned, "what now?"

Kezz chuckled. "We walk," he answered and started forward at a steady pace, one that would not tire him very quickly.

---

Somehow in all the madness, she had lost sight of her partner, and she was only just now realizing this as her eyes darted to another enemy. Pan drug her heavy axe from the dirt, where it had previously been resting, swinging and ripping through the reptile with such ease it made her flinch with a sudden nausea, but this wasn't new, she had done this multiple times since she started fighting. Glancing around in a hurry, she found Pheonere immersed in his own skirmish, he seemed tired and he was on the defensive, jumping and dodging rather than trying to land any blows to his enemy.

Pan started towards him but her speed was quickly hindered when another Ralerphere attacked her from the side. The snake soldier bit at her but she evaded with a few inches to spare, still, it was a little too close for comfort, she decided and quickly beheaded the reptile, and, only after blasting it for good measure, did she take to the air and head to give Pheonere some much needed support.

Pheonere flared his forepaws and roared with a sudden rage, there were now three Ralerphere surrounding him, cutting off his escape route and any hopes of evading further. He had resolved to himself it was either all or nothing, attack or die. He was about to leap at the one afore him when he seen all three of his adversaries simultaneously burst into pieces, smoke soon followed with a foal air of poison and burned scales.

Pan landed beside him, her eyes steady but worried. "I think you should head back Pheonere, you're too tired to fight anymore."

The young Blainfirr nodded sadly, the madness of war sounds and battle cries surrounded them, so he didn't argue with her. "Take care of yourself Pan, and don't over do it!" he called back to her shortly after sprinting away towards the safety of the city.

Averting her attention back to the battle, Pan nearly stepped out of the way as a massive, down thrusting claw, tore her weapon's strap and coming within only inches of her flesh. She stumbled back a bit and noticed that she now faced a dragon, covered in dark blue scales and barely scathed from any previous battle. It snarled and swiped horizontally at her, she quickly parried the blow with the staff of her weapon and jumped back a good distance in order to reorganize her thoughts for a counterattack.

The dragon charged forth, Pan brought her axe up and held it in front of her with both hands. She focused on the monstrous creature, deciphering its movements, but it had a chaotic rhythm, nearly unreadable. Before he was even within ten feet of her, she drew her heavy weapon back and launched it at him. With a yelp, the hammer-axe made contact with the dragon's shoulder and sent him crashing to the dirt head first.

Pan scrutinized the beast closely as it moved, struggling to get up and wheezing in pain. She flew at him and graciously tore her axe from his scales, the dragon roared in agony as Pan gave herself another good measure of distance from him and landed.

As the dragon staggered to all fours Pan rotated the head of her axe downward and drove it into the ground, now with her hands free she began powering up, knowing the only safe way to fight this thing was in her golden form. She howled as her energy level rose dramatically. The winged reptile stood, his wounded limb hung numbly at his side as he stepped after her, his speed steadily increasing.

When finally Pan reached the peak of her previously latent abilities, the usual shock wave occurred and was launched in every direction, knocking back anything within range, this included her opponent.

Momentarily disoriented, the dragon shook his head and then looked around, his prey was nowhere in sight now. He stood there awhile longer, confused and weary as his wound worsened by the second.

Pan dropped down from the air and slammed the hammer end of her axe on the back of his neck and shoulders, smashing and cracking his bones and scales alike. He whined as he collapsed one last time to the ground, dead.

Pan's blond hair soon faded to dark again as she landed softly and leaned on the staff of her weapon. She breathed heavily in exhaustion; she was already tiring before fighting that thing, and having to push herself to Super Saiyan didn't help her energy level much, it only seemed to deplete it faster.

Skirmishes and screeches were still raging on all around her and yet she was too tired to pay them any heed. Maybe she was still trying to recover from near starvation, or perhaps weakened from her discharge, whatever it was, she knew something was off, she could normally go on all day like this, this was nothing! She willed herself to lift her axe, but only managed it a few inches off the ground. She was so engrossed concentrating on control over her weapon that she didn't sense the Ralerphere soldiers flanking her from both sides.

She soon heard Troh-Rok call to her from quite a ways off, she couldn't make out what he had said but she didn't have to; generally when someone yells at you on the battlefield it was meant to warn you. Pan looked to her right to see a lizard soldier leaping at her, but she couldn't move her axe in time nor could she release it in order to blast the monster. It was at that split second that she caught the glint of metal as it rendered its way through the reptile, mincing it in half.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion for Pan, one second a Ralerphere was within striking distance, then the next it was put down right before her eyes, and if that wasn't enough, the slayer didn't even give her a chance to regroup before tackling her to the safety of the ground as the other flanking enemy spit poison through the air where Pan had previously been standing.

Trunks towered over her now as he hurled his bloodied sword at the remaining lizard, sending it flailing and toppling over with a screech. Electrical static pulsed all around the half Saiyan, signifying his second level state.

Before he could even give her a good berated stare she had already hugged him around the neck and shoulder. "Trunks! Trunks you're back!" Pan exclaimed, both elated and astonished by his sudden, though violent, return.

After a welcome like that, how could he possibly let himself reprimand her now? He decided he could chastise her later about how she nearly got herself killed.

Once Pan had finally released her grip, Trunks was now able to make eye contact with her, and although she was simply happy and oblivious to the chaos surrounding them, Trunks was indeed dead serious and completely aware of everything, including the little fact that not a single enemy had noticed them yet, after all, the average Ralerphere soldier was trained to attack only _moving_ targets, and seeing as the pair was lying on the ground, they were most likely considered dead among all the other corpses.

"Go back to the city Pan, I'll take over from here," Trunks told her after getting a questioning frown from her.

"Okay," she replied simply, too simply. For Trunks hadn't even registered the word it seemed.

Trunks shook his head, already determined to contradict her. "Pan, I'm not going to argue with you, now g-!.." he cut himself off and gave her an odd look. "Wait, what?"

"I said okay," she chirped agreeably and pecked him on the lips as an act of compliance in hopes that it would make his thought process move a bit faster, that or she just wanted to make him look stupid, that was fun too.

It took him a few more seconds to compute but he blinked out of bewilderment and into something similar to triumph; that had to be the easiest argument he had ever won with her.

Trunks leaned down on his elbows, smirked mischievously, and returned the affectionate gesture, his version considerably longer, and, prolonging it even more when Pan obliged and deepened the kiss.

By now their positions were very questionable, and yet, all the while the battle waged on, and at the moment they were both oblivious to it all, had they stepped back and thought about it, the situation would have seemed oddly similar to a certain previous reunion, they also would have considered whether or not this would become a habit, but then, they had never stepped back to think about it, so in the end it was a frivolous deduction.

Thunderous vibrations startled the pair from their activity and they both glanced to the side to see a mighty Trentore rushing at them. Upon closer inspection it was easy to decipher Troh-Rok's features and before they even had time to move out of his way, he skidded to a halt, with dirt flowing all around him and only a matter of a few feet away as he bellowed humorously, "Come now Saiyans, this is not the time or place for that, leave it until _after_ our victory!" He jumped right over them and landed with a crash ten feet away, not slowing as he plowed onward, ramming his armored head into every enemy in his path.

"Of all the nerve!" Pan denounced.

"Yeah well, he's right, you should go back and I should start supporting them," he told her as he stood and offered a hand to help her to her feet as well.

"Fine!" she growled, throwing up her arms in a huff, and stalking off towards the city as she called over her shoulder, "I'll have you know I'm really confused and absolutely provoked!"

"Wait Pan-" Trunks started when he seen an enemy flying at her, but he watched in a lovely horror as Pan brought her hand up and met the soldier with a ruthless energy blast, its face only inches from her palm as its entire body phased into complete and utter annihilation.

All the while Pan mumbled to herself, "-so stupid, it makes me want to hurt things!" Trunks just shook his head in mild humor; definitely that time of the month.

Turning and retrieving his blade from the enemy corpse, Trunks looked around and found Ledgic slicing his way through the thickest lines of soldiers, though he did make a note to refrain from hitting any Trentore. That wouldn't last long, not when the enemy started sending the Trentore traitors anyway.

Now that he was standing, he was an open target, and the Ralerphere in turn gathered toward him; this meant that the Trentore army was sadly diminishing in regards to the Ralerphere army, which was still quite immense. Trunks sighed; it was going to be a long remainder of a day.

---

AN: Bwahaha! I bet you didn't see that double meaning in the title when you started, hah? Ok well fluff kills you know... not really, but according to Pan it does, anyway people asked for it so I gave you what you wanted, I'm such a giver! Ok, ok enough about me, I want to know what _you_ thought, so if you have a heart, review please. If not, then I guess you're dead, either that or you're a really smart animal that can read...(shifty eyes)


	30. Poisoned Dreams

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in DBZ/GT.**

AN: Ok, here's a long chapter for the long wait, I had thought about splitting this chapter into two but I figured you guys deserved a big fluffy chapter. Enjoy the updates while they're here, writers block pops up at the most random, inconvenient times.

**Chapter Thirty – Poisoned Dreams**

Wrapping her bandanna around her clean and newly showered hair, Pan walked down the ship's corridor. It was nice to have these modern facilities again, especially since the planet Trentore didn't have anything more than one single fresh water spring, which they used to live on, so bathing wasn't one of the top concerns in the city. Pan disagreed, but there was little she could do about it. It didn't matter anymore anyway, the ship's appliances worked fine for her and she was happy now.

On the other hand she felt weak and depleted after the battle. Stepping down the ship's ramp and entering the city gates, she started feeling even worse, dizzy even. Safely inside the city's walls Pan allowed herself to collapse her weight on the edge of the fountain that stood in the very middle of the marketplace. Sitting there and cupping her head in her hands, she tried to focus her energy to ridding her dizziness. Only when Pheonere approached did she raise her head to acknowledge her surroundings... It was almost dark outside, how did she miss that?

"Pan? Are you well?" the lion wondered, concerned.

Pan regarded him as if she had already forgotten he was there. "Oh, Pheonere. Well, I'm not really sure, I've been feeling dizzy for awhile, maybe I just need to go get some sleep," she replied and massaged her swimming head with one hand.

Pheonere watched her worriedly, she looked flushed from exhaustion, though he wouldn't be the one to tell her that. "That sounds like something more than fatigue," he said skeptically and looking her over. "You didn't get hit by any poison anywhere did you?"

At this point Pan could hardly compute his sentence, but managed to focus enough for an answer. "Well, I- maybe, my arm was scratched, but I didn't think-"

After lifting her sleeve enough to expose the small wound Pheonere hissed in response and spoke rapidly. "You stay right here, you need medical attention immediately."

Pan made no attempt at a protest, as it was she was finding it difficult to even stay awake now, and if Trunks hadn't been coming through the front gates at that moment, she would have dropped backwards right into the fountain, but he succeeded in catching her before that happened. "Pan, what's wrong? Shouldn't I be the one that's nodding off like that?" he joked after making sure she was sitting upright and alert enough to remain that way, albeit she looked like she might pull the same stunt all over again.

"She's been poisoned, it's a miracle she hasn't passed out yet," Pheonere answered, running back to them with an elixir strapped around his neck, he gave his head a worrisome tilt when Pan looked as though she hadn't a clue what Trunks had just said to her, much less what Pheonere had just explained. He then turned to Trunks, "you'll need to give her some of this, because it doesn't look like she'll be able to do anything herself until she rests.

The Blainfirr's statement couldn't have been truer as Trunks was now having to support her constantly, for she apparently had a death wish to die drowning in this particular fountain.

"Make sure she gets plenty of rest," the young lion prescribed, or rather recited his few years of experience while Trunks administered the antidote. Pan obviously disliked the ill-tasting medicine but she no longer had the motivation or strength to fight the liquid from her throat.

Trunks nodded, he was battered and worn, but alert and attentive to the situation as he enveloping Pan in his arms and waited for any further instructions before heading to their quarters. "There have been many symptoms coupled with this poison, how it effects each individual is different, and considering the amount she may have received would have already killed any average Blainfirr or Trentore, so all we can do is hope she pulls through." Pheonere didn't mince his words, but he felt that any lack of information was a handicap to her recovery.

Trunks wasn't so much worried as he was tired, for one thing, Pan was stronger than most gave her credit for, he was confident that she'd beat this by morning, and they'd both be back out there on the battlefield on the morrow. He sighed in a mix of exhaustion and relief; it was a good thing the Ralerphere army finally retreated for the night, apparently they didn't usually attack at night unless it was imperative for victory, and although the obvious solution to defeating them would be attacking them at night, the Trentore were just as worn out, so there really wasn't any way around waiting until daybreak. Trunks was relieved, to say the least, he didn't know how much more fight he had left in him.

Then he thought about Kezz and wondered how he was holding up. Trunks wanted to go find him and bring him back to the city, but he didn't think he'd be able to even make it to Kezz, much less make the journey back with the extra weight of two Trentore. Besides, he couldn't exactly leave Pan unsupervised in her condition. All he could do was hope Kezz and his nephew made it here safely.

Upon entering their tent, Trunks spared a glance down to his charge, she had already fallen fast asleep in his arms, her head set loosely between his arm and chest. He wondered how long she had been fighting with that poison afflicting her senses, probably awhile knowing her. "You don't cease to amaze me Pan," he told her softly and she murmured something in her sleep as Trunks gently set her down in her bed and pulled the covers over her small form. "No symptoms, got it? I'm too tired to deal with them," he joked, aiming a finger at her accusingly, but Pan's features grew sour as she turned over in her sleep, none the wiser to the half-Saiyan's comment as he remover her grimy bandanna and set it aside

Trunks merely smiled and shook his head amusingly before turning to his own bed, his glorious bed! It called to him to sleep and he was much too happy to oblige and collapse over it, hardly caring how difficult it was proving to be to remove his armor in his current position. He hadn't realized just how much he could miss such a simple necessity after only a couple of days traveling and sleeping on the hard ground.

A moment of beauteous silence lapsed as Trunks had finally succeeded in discarding his armor on the floor when his worst nightmare rent his tranquil hibernation in two. His eyes shot open with a whine of complete and hopeless anguish as he sat up, only to realized it was, in fact, Pan who was having the nightmare, and she did little to hide this fact as she was nearly thrashing among her discomforted moans. Her subconscious seemed to be tormenting her. Trunks assumed the poison had a big part in this as he pondered on what to do.

Too tired to come up with anything that involved more than a few steps to her bed, he stroked her hair in hopes of calming her. He watched and smiled as immediately her face softened with relief of the comforting contact.

He sighed in defeat, knowing what this meant. Assuming her current nightmares had a similar influence to reality, as his did, Trunks resolved that if he was going to get any hint of sleep tonight, he was going to have to sleep standing up... That thought didn't even deserve contemplation as the alternative, though degrading as it seemed, brilliantly snapped through his mind as he pulled himself on the bed next to her, making a point to keep the blankets between them, he didn't care how cold he was so long as he'd get some sleep, quiet, peaceful, uninterrupted... _sleep_.

The bed's incline, as well as Trunks' proximity, did little to phase Pan as her brows furrowed and her eyelids twitched due to her unconscious encounters. After wrapping one arm around her, Trunks absently continued stroking her bangs, as it seemed to be what calmed her the most, and wishing her happy dreams as he began to dose off himself. Things were working out quite well until he heard the tent flap fluttered open. Trunks raised himself enough to watch Ledgic cross to his own bed, a disgusted look about him as he glanced over the pair but remained silent.

Trunks didn't even bother to make excuses about his sleeping arrangement, and frankly, he didn't really care. With the potential threat nullified, he let himself drop back onto the pillow, immersing his face in Pan's jet black hair, hoping to ease her chaotic thoughts beneath her consciousness with as little effort possible. It was _finally_ time to sleep, and thus he did not notice Pan's contented purring throughout most the night.

---

She felt warm and safe, these being the first logical thoughts she had managed. Pan slowly blinked bleary eyes as she lifted her head enough to see Ledgic head outside, letting the cold morning darkness seep through the tent's opening. Pan shivered, it was definitely too early to get up; it wasn't even dawn yet! Only after burring herself deeper into the covers did she realize her predicament. Wasn't her bed bigger than this the night before? And what was that around her wais- Oh. Upon tilting her head to the side she noticed why she was unable to move backward. Trunks slept soundly behind her, his head barely supported by the edge of the pillow, though he seemed content enough through his soft, steady breathing.

She almost shuddered,_"what exactly happened last night anyway?"_ Pan wondered, an oblivious look about her as she couldn't remember anything at the moment; she felt like she had been in a coma or something. She must still be dreaming, yeah, that must be it. And thus she made an attempt to return to slumber with a bit of a bemused face, because that's what you do when you're dreaming right? _"Just pretend to go back to sleep Pan, and then you'll move on to the next crazy scenario,"_ she assured herself as she resumed her previous position. _"But it seems so real!"_ another part of her argued, the solidity of his "imaginary" arm cupped around her middle served as a major hindrance toward the progress of her plan. She scowled; this was so wrong.

As daybreak finally came about within the next hour, Pan found that she could not, no matter how hard she tried, go back to sleep. Giving her far too much time to think... And this forced her to accept the fact that none of it was a dream, and if she did have any dreams last night, she couldn't remember them. How ironic. Nor could she remember anything past the events of her shower yesterday. She blew some hair our of her face in mild irritation as she eyed Trunks suspiciously; he had better have a good explanation for this.

Though she couldn't stay mad at him, he looked so happy... peaceful even. She frowned regrettably at him, she didn't want to disturb him, but certain bodily functions needed to be tended to, that in itself had been the best incentive in accepting the reality of the situation. Untangling herself from the man, Pan found that it was surprisingly easy to slip out from under his hold at first, but his grip tightened for a matter of seconds and then he was awake and quickly released her as though she would have scorched him if he held on any longer.

Trunks looked around deliriously as if assessing the situation before trusting himself to speak with the offending hand behind his head in nervous smile. "Uh-heh, morning Pan," he greeted hesitantly.

Pan sat up, eying him warily before standing. "You can explain everything when I get back," she told him, suspicion lining her voice as she left their quarters in search of the privy.

Now it was his turn to sit up. "Oh great," he moaned and massaged his head tiredly; he could easily go another five hours of sleep. But it was morning and the Ralerphere army wasn't going to wait around for him to get fully rested. He sighed and waited for Pan's return, he hoped she wouldn't be mad about the misunderstanding, but she probably couldn't remember anything about getting poisoned, so that might explain why she wasn't too impressed with the situation.

After her morning routine was dealt with, Pan steadily made her way back to the tent, her mind wandering as she walked. Ever since Slaves Arena things have been different between them, she couldn't place her finger on it exactly, but it was there, and it was sneaky, so much so that she didn't even realize it was there until after the situation had ended. She scowled down at the ground with annoyance as if the dirt itself had offended her. _"What did they do to me... to us?"_ she wondered earnestly as she curved into the draped room, only to see Trunks now sitting on his bed and arming himself.

Pan made a face, she was hoping to get a chance to talk to him, then to her delight, he ceased his movements to face her attentively. "I'm sorry about earlier Pan, but last night you were poisoned and you were making so much racket in your sleep that I had to do _something_," he confessed, hoping she would be understanding.

Pan seemed skeptical for a moment, but after considering his earnest features she complied with nod before giving him a concerned glance. "Trunks... about what happened on Slaves Arena-"

Trunks raised a hand, stopping her. "I know Pan, I've been meaning to talk to you about that, but right now isn't the best time," he told her, snapping his arm guard into position and gently gripping her shoulders as he stood. "But we can talk later, so right now let's focus on helping our friends, ok?"

Pan matched his stare for a moment, but soon sighed and nodded, a little disappointed as she went to equip her own weapon... wait, where was her weapon? She sighed again, this time in frustration, she must have left it in the ship; some warrior she was turning out to be, she couldn't even keep track of her own weapon!

Trunks frowned at her fussing and took her sigh of frustration as though he had been the source of the problem. Now he felt bad about postponing the conversation, she had every right to want to talk about it, and the longer he put it off, the longer he would have to dread it. Though he was right, they needed to focus on the war effort right now, but after thinking about it, now he wished something would come up so they could have some time to talk, alone. He was about to lay a hand on her shoulder and apologize when a Trentore servant, just outside the tent entrance, announced their morning meal shortly before Pan called back, approving the servants admittance.

"We should probably check with Troh-Rok, I bet he has a special infiltration mission for us," Pan mused aloud, once the servants had gone she forked some strange looking strip of meat, she grimaced and could only hoped it would taste like chicken.

Trunks sat down beside her, eying the food warily; somehow the food didn't seem quite as appealing to him either, at least, not like when they first arrived. "Yeah, maybe he will-" Trunks didn't have a chance to reply as a Trentore messenger requested entry, Pan complied and Trunks raised an eyebrow; she was getting off on this.

The messenger came through the tent flap with a bow, obviously flustered as though he just ran through the front lines of battle. "Please excuse my haste, but the General has made a request that you both remain idle until he is able to brief you on an important mission." The young Trentore looked nervous, almost impatient as he waited to be dismissed. When it seemed as though Pan and Trunks forgot he was even there, and began talking amongst themselves about the situation, he cleared his throat. "Um, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off to report to the General that the message was delivered and understood."

Both Pan and Trunks nodded, hardly paying him any mind as he departed. "Wow, I was right for once," Pan said, amazed.

Trunks didn't reply as he pulled a bowl of soup in front of him, it looked safe enough, though the way his stomach had clenched after hearing that news was enough to make him lose his appetite for the entire morning, because now they had time to 'talk'. He groaned inwardly, the overused saying: 'be careful what you wish for' ran through his self beating. He mentally smacked himself in order to get a hold of his senses; it surely wouldn't be such hard a subject to talk to her about!

Finally, after nearly reaching the brink of biting his tongue, he coughed and, a bit awkwardly, began, "so I guess this means we can talk now," he hesitated shortly but pushed onward, not meeting her gaze as he stared down at his bowl, poking absently at a strange slab of something that reminded him of tofu in his soup. "About what happened before we escaped..." he spared an uncomfortable glance her way as she regrouped closer to him and crossed her legs, grinning.

"Uh, actually Trunks," Pan said shyly with a light chuckle. "I was talking about when you showed up to rescue me, but now that you mention it-"

"Huh?" Trunks nearly fell over in a pathetic stupor, had he been worried about it for no reason? "You mean you weren't concerned about-"

"I'm sorry Trunks," she interrupted him and placed a hand on his arm to brace herself for fear of doubling over in laughter. His big blank expression was just too funny to pass up! "I was just messing with you. You were right the first time." She kept a mischievous smirk but seemed to sober up considerably. She really was concerned about it, but if the subject unnerved him that much, then she'd gladly drop it.

Trunks somehow mixed a sigh of, oddly placed, relief(wasn't he suppose to be dreading this topic?) and a huff of irritation. Why was she picking on him today? Didn't she have anyone to argue with during his absence? Surely Pheonere cooked up a mean debate when prompted. Or maybe that was the problem, the lion's antics had probably rubbed off on her. _"She has definitely spent too much time with him,"_ he concluded; Pan didn't need any more help being clever, she did just fine on her own.

"Ok hold on, how about you tell me your concerns and we'll go from there," Trunks told her after releasing another sigh and pushing the bowl, which only seemed to make him all the more nauseous, away from his person.

"Well, I have a pretty good idea about what was going on-" Pan paused, now it was her turn to feel uncomfortable as she never really got the chance to finish.

Trunks' nerves were nearly shot, he couldn't stand all this pussy footing around, for heavens sake he just wanted to get it over with! "They were trying to breed us as if we were a couple of mindless zoo animals running solely on instinct!" he exclaimed with a growl, making him _seem_ like an angry zoo animal, to Pan's amusement as she chuckled at the thought.

Trunks willed his nerves to be still as he took Pan's laughter as a sign to calm down, her soft tone and words helped as well. "But we're safe now," she said, relieved to end the conversation with that as she nestled in next to him as though she were preparing for a nap with one of her big stuffed animals. Though a nap sitting up didn't normally seem very appealing, she felt like she could easily fall asleep with her head against him like this. "Well... sort of," she mended after remembrance of the war they had recently been embroiled in.

After securing his arm around her, Trunks smiled comfortably, happy to finally have that subject over with. Though it hadn't been as painful as he had dreaded, surprisingly. He likewise nuzzled her hair in a similar gesture of relief and realized that the action was starting to turn into a habit.

Pan couldn't restrain a giggle as Trunks moved his head down, tickling her neck with his breath, and soon laughter from both sides could be heard. Eventually the volume of their little game was forgotten, and neither of them sensed, or heard for that matter, when Pheonere entered the tent without warning. "Oh, geez, sorry, I should have asked before barging in like that!" he said sheepishly, growling at himself on the side, as the pair immediately broke apart and straightened themselves out.

Pheonere stood there, ashamed with himself as he was about to make a hasty exit and start over, when Giru hopped of his back and made his arrival known with little to no prudence on the situation. "Giru is here to deliver a message! Giru... Giru..."

"N-no problem, we were just-" Trunks started nervously, completely ignoring the robot's announcement.

"No problem! Giru... No problem? Giru..." the robot rattled off as he hovered to Pan excitedly. "Pan and Giru have a mission! Giru, Giru..."

Pan, thankful for a distraction, laughed nervously, and a tad over the top Trunks thought, but he too was thankful for it. He cleared his throat awkwardly and regarded the young lion expectantly. "Go ahead Pheonere."

A little unsure, Pheonere nodded. "Troh-Rok would brief you now, it's an important mission, so brace yourselves," he said gravely, very uncharacteristically for the young, usually, cheerful lion as he made his exit.

The pair simply stared at each other and seemed to share in a look of bewilderment before heading out, without another word.

---

AN: Wow, aaaawkward...::hides under a rock:: But hey, it needed to be addressed, and what better time then in the middle of a war! Bwahah! Or rather, before and after a major fluffy scene! I admit, I had fun messing with them in this chap, and hopefully I won't wimp out on you guys again. I'll do my best to update sooner... much sooner. Oh and we'll see who gets to be lucky reviewer number 200! I can just see you guys lining up for that...::note sarcasm::


	31. Infiltration

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in DBZ/GT.**

**Chapter Thirty One - Infiltration**

"Ugh! I can't believe you're making me go too!" the girl hissed. "Can't you handle all of these fancy buttons on your own? Why do you need me?"

Bulma rolled her eyes at the sound of her daughter's whines. "Look Bra, he's your brother, it might be nice if you showed a little more concern about him instead of your own comforts," she paused, looking over the ship's control panel carefully. "Besides, I'll go insane if I have to ride in this thing all alone for an entire week."

Bra sighed and made a face as she folded her arms stubbornly. "Fine, but I don't see why we have to take two ships. Why not just take one and go pick them up and bring them home, that way they'd be safe and sound."

"Because," Bulma droned. "We might just be overreacting and it's possible they were on a planet and someone just decided to blow up their ship while they were off exploring and what-not," she sighed. "My point is, maybe they found another ship and just decided to continue to Namek."

Bra waved her hand casually, as though there was a fly pestering her. "Yeah right, "exploring". I'll bet you right now that they were off doing the "what-not" while they let their ship explode."

Bulma didn't reply to that, but rather, smirked in agreement. "Go tell your father we're all set here," she said and busied herself with the powering up of the ship. "Lift off is in ten minutes."

Bra sighed, grumbling as she made her way down the boarding ramp. "Dad! It's time to go!" she shouted to him across the lab. After Vegeta had glanced up from his meditating, Bra looked around suspiciously. "Hey, where's Goten?" she asked when her father appeared in front of her.

"He probably ran away, I don't think that brat wants to go into space anymore than you do," Vegeta replied, his voice indifferent.

Hands on hips, Bra huffed angrily. "Well you better find him, Mom says we leave in less than ten minutes!"

Vegeta sounded a grunt but soon disappeared from his spot, returning seconds later with Goten in his grasp as though he were a misbehaving puppy, then dropped him on the plated ramp with a clank. Goten flashed Bra a sheepish grin before scratching his head nervously. "Oh, hey guys, is it time to leave already?"

Bra glared over him, aiming a finger at him in reprimand. "We leave in five minutes, you had better be packed and ready to go, because if _I_ have to go, then so do _you."_

Goten sighed, ashamed and beaten. "I know, she's my niece and I _am_ worried about her. But I- I just don't think I'm cut out for this space travel stuff you know?"

"Well that's too bad, because neither am I, but I'm _going,_" Bra yammered back at him, her tone suggesting that she didn't have a choice in the matter either.

"Enough yapping, let's go already!" Vegeta barked. "Come on Brat!" He grabbed Goten, again by the cuff of his shirt, and proceeded to drag him up the other ship ramp.

"Aw! I can't believe I have to bunk with you the whole way!" Goten whined terribly, not even bothering to put up a fight as he was pulled into the ship. "Not cool!"

Bra found she had a smirk playing across her face at the sight, but quickly shook a bit of sense back into her head; this was going to be a _long_ trip, long and boring... at least, she hoped it would be boring. She headed back up into the vessel just as both ship ramps closed up while the engines roared to life simultaneously.

---

Pan walked beside her companion, blushing lightly, her tail twitching and agitated. Why was it they kept getting interrupted? First on the battle field and now in the tent! And she was just starting to have fun with their little snuggling game when Pheonere walked in, though Trunks _was_ starting to get a little too frisky, now that she thought about it. She shook her head fervently, hoping to rid the heat that was steadily rising to her face. When exactly did she enjoy snuggling with him anyway? She frowned as their former prison cell flashed through her mind. Oh yes, those blasted aliens did something to her, that was the only explanation, but surely the stimulant would ware off eventually, for now she'd just have to fight it. She sent Trunks a concerned look, was he also still feeling its effects? She forgot to bring that up in the discussion, but she didn't want to provoke the subject again, or him for that matter because it seemed to have hit a nerve.

Pan exhaled in something of a sigh, this was all really strange, but she couldn't say it was disturbing, just... different; she wasn't used to it... yet.

Likewise Trunks walked with an awkward gate, and found that he couldn't bring his gaze to her, but seemed to have time to glance at everything else. What was he thinking? They were in the middle of a war, and he had time to be intimate with her? He felt like beating himself senseless on the nearest building! His lack of self control was really starting to aggravate him! He grit his teeth as he tensed with a thought. Hadn't the stimulant worn off yet? It was almost a week since they escaped, but it seemed like whenever he let his guard down his body would end up doing things under his mind's supervision. And poor Pan, she was probably having the same problems! These two elements together did not bode well in his mind, the previous nausea returning with a rapid rate.

Giru hopped and hovered along with them, oblivious to the situation and all that it entailed.

Upon meeting up with Pheonere, he smiled at them in acknowledgment. "It is good to see you well Pan," he chirped, his previous gloominess as though forgotten. "Did you sleep well?"

Pan shifted nervously but managed a pleasant nod. "Yeah, I think so, I can't remember much, so I must have been sleeping," she replied and grinned, the awkward air dispersing instantly as she bent down to his level and tapped him lightly on the head with her fist. "Kitty." Her grin working comically around each syllable.

Pheonere did not look amused at first, but his features soon faded from bewilderment to curiosity. "Is this some sort of greeting where you come from? And what is "Kitty"?"

Pan laughed. "It's another word for "cat", but it's more of a nick name for you since you're a "big" cat!"

Giru seemed to get off on this and began hopping around in circles. "Big cat! Giru... Giru... Big cat!"

Pheonere watched the little robot with mild annoyance, his tail switching in tandem as Pan started laughing again. The trio hadn't seemed to notice when Troh-Rok came up beside Trunks, whom stood a few feet away, watching in amusement before quickly coming to attention when he felt the small quakes Troh-Rok made with his steps. "G-General! Good morning!" the half-Saiyan sputtered, startled. How did someone so big sneak up on him like that? He hadn't even sensed him, was he that engrossed with the threesomes antics? "Pheonere said you had a mission for us?" he mentioned after composing himself.

Troh-Rok sighed as he nodded tiredly, the morning's trials already taking their toll on the giant beast. "Aye, that is correct. It is perhaps the most important mission to be given. Will you lend us your power for this purpose?"

Trunks stared up at him with a flash of bewilderment. Why was he asking such a strange question all of a sudden? Of course they wanted to help! "I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that, General. But Pan and I want to help in whatever way we can, if the mission just so happens to be important, then we're all for it," he assured him with a steady smile. "Just fill us in on the details and we'll leave right away."

Troh-Rok was about to do just that when Pan stepped forward with her morning greeting to the General. He regarded her pleasantly enough, and although it was a forced facade, no one would tell him that. "I would it were a good day, but as it stands now my men are set at a high disadvantage, their moral has been severely diminishing ever since the first assault this morning. There were fellow Trentore in the enemy ranks, and many of my men had second thoughts, thus resulting in a terrible end." His voice was scratchy and torn with pain as he continued, steeling himself, "that is why a new plan of action has been set into motion. Trunks. Pan." He looked at them as he said their respective names. "You will both be infiltrating the main base of the Ralerphere's operations. I have received reports from my sentry...the only one that returned," he paused, hissing back a scowl, "that our traitorous Prince is located there, and he is your mission. You must apprehend him and bring him here, alive."

Trunks nodded, but Pan could only gape in shock; she couldn't believe she had been right in guessing their mission. Though she was expecting more of a, "purge the entire base", sort of infiltration, but this worked too. She nodded her consent. "Very good, you leave immediately, your robot has already memorized the layout of the base, so I leave the stratagem up to you," Troh-Rok instructed promptly.

Pan and Trunk nodded shortly to each other and after a rushed farewell, they vanished over the city wall in a matter of seconds. Only after that did Pheonere approach the General. "Is there some particular reason you want him brought alive?"

"More than one actually," Troh-Rok replied. "First, I need to hear his side of the story. If he does not order the enemy Trentore to retreat then I will know for myself that he has betrayed our beliefs. Secondly, having him captive will raise our soldiers spirits, and weaken the enemy Trentore force somewhat, if not completely."

Pheonere gaped in awe. "That will surely win us the battle!"

Troh-Rok released a rough chuckle. "No my boy, it will win us the war!"

---

Pan hesitated a moment and Trunks paused in response. "Pan, what's the hold up? We need to hurry!"

"Hold on, I left my axe in the ship," she said quickly, already dropping altitude in order to retrieve said weapon. Trunks sighed, leaning against the ship and tapping it impatiently.

Pan returned momentarily from inside the ship, the monstrous axe strapped to her back. "Are we ready now?" Trunks asked, a brow raised in sarcasm.

She shoved him. "Shut up, you haven't seen me work this thing yet. You have no clue what I'm capable of Mister."

Trunks rolled his eyes, hardly impressed as they started into the air again. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'll find out, when you lop my head off by accident."

Pan growled, punching in him in the shoulder. "Look you, I have complete control of my weapon... I just, can't seem to keep track of it, is all." Trunks couldn't help but laugh in reply and rubbing his arm to humor her as they flew onward, over the raging battlefield below. Pan beamed with an idea. "Say Trunks, let's offer some support fire as we go!"

"Aw Pan, come on, we have a job to-" he cursed under his breath. She was already gone. "Alright, but don't get caught up in anything!" he shouted over the clangs and roars of battle after catching up with her.

Pan nodded in agreement, holding her speed as she picked off Ralerphere targets with well aimed energy blasts. The lizard-men screeched and cowered as they witnessed their allies being shot down, allowing Troh-Rok's soldiers an opening for attack.

Trunks lowered himself dangerously and hovered near the ground as he continued to surge by at a velocity that left the enemy standing in shock. Unsheathing his blade, the metal hissed out of its scabbard as the half-Saiyan plowed through a thick line of reserved Ralerphere forces. He brought his sword into an upward arc in order to refrain from hitting an enemy Trentore. At first the movement was instinctive, his subconscious seen the creature as a friend, but even after realizing he should have attacked, he was too far away to give it much more thought. The enemy was closing in on him now, and he suddenly deduced that getting a scratch would be the last thing he needed. Spiking his energy, Trunks shot back into a safe distance above, pausing momentarily to find Pan among the chaos and shooting blast after energy blast. This was taking too much time, he swept over the distance between them and snatched her out of her sniping activity by her arm.

Pan looked at him, annoyed, as they were now speeding away from the little black dots of destruction on the open, dry plain. Soon enough Trunks released her and they were both flying toward their destination, for the third time, distractions aside.

---

"Push them back! Don't let them through! Hold that line!" Troh-Rok roared his orders to the troops while fending off his own adversary after taking point. He noticed that his soldiers purposely shied away from certain enemies, fellow Trentore. The General scowled. "So that's how it is then?" He snarled at the Ralerphere hacking away madly at one his twin broadswords as though it would somehow crack in two. The Ralerpher staggered back when Troh-Rok jerked the massive blade in a wide swing before charging directly at the closest enemy Trentore, engaging him in battle with the hopes of encouraging his troops to fight back, regardless of the circumstances.

The display helped somewhat, but not near as much compared to when another Trentore thundered into the fray from behind their last defensive line. Kezz took up his stance back to back with the General, holding at bay another enemy Trentore that would have stabbed Troh-Rok in the back otherwise.

"Welcome back Captain! I trust your journey was successful?" Troh-Rok greeted with grunt as he blocked a strike and thrust his opponent back.

"Very well, actually." Kezz did likewise, the only difference being that of his spinning lance as it clipped the enemy Trentore, as well as a lizard grade Ralerphere that had previously been crowding his movement. He frowned in regards to the title but did not make it a point to address. "How fares the troops?" he wanted to know, setting his weapon up for a swing and cuffing his larger opponent across the face, then followed up with the brunt of his reserved lance.

"Not well, but they are improving," Troh-Rok answered, sparing his platoon a wary glance before leaping to the side and slamming the hilt of one sword on the back of the other Trentore's neck.

After they both dispensed of their respective enemies, they moved on to find more worthy adversaries. Taking on the appearance of twin tornadoes as they grabbed and tossed lizards, impaled and launched them at others, trampled some and roared at others angrily when they were out of reach. This went on as they continued breaking through the trench of enemies.

The duo's display did wonders on the morale of the troops. They fought without hesitation now, and even began retaking lost ground as their defensive line was renewed.

---

Boulders and chips of broken stone lay everywhere, there were only a handful of Ralerphere guards; rightly so, since their main forces had already been sent to fight.

Pan and Trunks had an easy time sneaking into the base. It had no defensive wall to speak of, just multiple stone buildings in a maze of desolation. At first glance they wouldn't have considered it to even be a base, but the slight movement of the few guards had been enough evidence to convince them it was the right place. It surely wasn't a place they would look for a prince to reside in though.

They silently slipped passed a guard when he switched directions, unaware as he walked away from them. The two of them were about to move further into the compound when Giru beeped nervously from his perch atop Pan's shoulder. Pan scrambled to shut him up as Trunks yanked her down behind a rock when the same Ralerphere turned to inspect.

Growling at another guard for assistance, the lizard moved toward the noise, his weapon held at the ready.

Pan and Trunks held their breath as they heard his footsteps coming closer and closer, they could even hear his wheezing breaths when the other guard hissed, calling him to forget about it and hurry to a meeting. After a sigh of relief they collecting themselves, and followed cautiously, but only after reprimanding a certain noisy little robot, and checking the layout that he was programed with. "It looks like they're headed for that open area," Trunks observed, indicating a large green area on the hologram screen produced by Giru.

Darkness covered everything now, the musty buildings were taller further in, casting shadows along the narrow passages between the buildings, making progress safe and helped to keeping their stealth easy.

Pan almost walked right into the clearing, it was a courtyard of sorts, but Trunks pulled her back into the dark alley. In the middle of the clearing a dragon class Ralerphere stood, barking orders to the small squad of lizard guards. Pan and Trunks observed as the creatures spoke in hisses and snarls. "Definitely a primitive and violent race," Trunks murmured to her quietly.

"What do you think they're saying?" Pan wondered, her tone equaling his.

Trunks merely shrugged and Giru was about to say something but Pan tapped him on the head. "Not now Giru," she hissed and the robot began to pout.

The guards soon dispersed after the dragon dismissed them. Once everything appeared safe, the trio followed silently after the dragon as he stalked purposely deeper into the chambers of the largest building.

At first, it was darker once inside the stony building, if it was even possible. But after a bit of walking, torches could be seen propped up on either side of the walls. Now they could see that they were walking down a fairly large corridor, big enough for both the dragon types and Trentore to pass through comfortably.

It suddenly occurred to Trunks that if they were to be attacked from either direction, they would have little choice except to stand and fight. Running blindly in the other direction would only worsen the situation. He had barely been able to reason this outcome before small pebbles crumbled from the rocky ceiling above with a quake. A pounding could soon be heard and Trunks knew exactly what was coming, he looked for the darkest place between the torches and pushed Pan up against the wall with a small yelp being her only resistance as she had still been trying to understand what was happening.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. The shadows caused by the flames shrouded them somewhat, but not nearly enough to cloud their vibrantly colored clothing, now they could only hope to be overlooked.

A mid sized Trentore thundered past, he was naught but a few feet within reach of them but he was unaware of their presence as he remained focused on his path, he was weary and nearly stumbled multiple times.

"Whew!" Pan sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead when the danger had passed. "Quick thinking Trunks, we nearly got trampled!" Although she made her exclamation, she kept her voice low. "I wonder why he was in such a big hurry?"

"I wouldn't know, but he was a Trentore, so he might lead us to the prince," Trunks replied, already hovering above the floor for further stealth and speed as he lead the way. Pan imitated and followed.

When reaching a fork in the path they stopped and listened. Only after hearing voices did they proceed with caution down one path over the other. They reached an inner chamber and quickly hugged the wall when they seen the messenger kneel before a similarly sized Trentore with gray scales, the prince, they both knew with a glance by his royal garb and posture. He was surrounded by half a dozen guards. They were quite possibly the largest Trentore they had seen so far. Trunks examined their surroundings in an instant, pillars were set up round about the room, another passage opened up on the other side of the chamber; one guard was posted there.

"Is there any word of success yet?" the young Trentore demanded, the messenger's heavy panting going unnoticed by him.

"No my Prince, there has been a new develop-" the messenger gasped for air and swallowed a breath. "A new development, the enemy forces have been strengthened somehow, their defenses have doubled, our progress has been hindered greatly-"

The prince scowled. "Enough! I've heard enough! Return to the front and only report to me again when you have good news!"

The messenger gaped in exhaustion and his breathing had not died down at all, but he managed a bow and promptly dismissed himself without another word. He could do little more than concentrate on not collapsing, much less notice Pan and Trunks when they moved from the wall to the shadow of the closest pillar.

Trunks was still formulating a plan when he heard Pan's screech as it pierced his thoughts, he wrenched his eyes to see that there had been a guard posted just out of their sight at their entrance too. And the human-Saiyan couple had not went unnoticed by him.

---

AN: What's that? Huh? Oh a cliffhanger you say? Oh really? You want to hurt me now? Ack! Please no, anything but the pitchfork!


	32. In a Mess of Trouble

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in DBZ/GT.**

AN: Oh man! I can't believe I left such a cliffy for so long, I'm evil! Graelyn-chan you rock! And my regards to Ladybugg for the title. ::grin::

**Chapter Thirty Two – In a Mess of Trouble**

"No!" he roared in anguish. After seeing his friend hit the ground with a sickening thud due to a fatal blow to the chest, fury blazed in his eyes and burned up through his nostrils.

Charging at the offending Trentore, Kezz let loose a chain of terrible snarls, his lance a blur of motion as he knocked any and all enemies away from his fallen comrade. After awhile his train of thought had been lost and he was reduced to a mere rampaging beast, biting, ripping, slashing, stamping, and ramming. Soon enough, the enemy had learned to avoid him altogether and veered off toward some easier targets.

This allowed Kezz the time to stop for a moment. His breathing heavy and labored, his eyes darting in every direction, expecting more opponents, but after a few moments he was able to regain his senses. Finally he looked back to Troh-Rok's dying form and went to kneel beside him after hearing his weak calls. "Aye Brother, name your requests, I will hear them. As is our custom."

"A-Aye-" Troh-Rok began weakly, but Kezz did not attempt to stop him or tell him to save his strength, not when death was this imminent. "I have but two for you to fulfill in my be-behalf," he swallowed, clenching the blood between his teeth. "First, I would have you take my place and lead the c-city to peace-"

Kezz regarded him wordlessly, his eyes wide with uncertainty, but he could not refuse his brother's dying wish; He nodded. "And?"

Troh-Rok grimaced, he felt more blood rupture his insides; his time was much shorter now. "My last wish concerns my son-"

---

"What is the meaning of this?!" the prince growled, indignant by the sight of intruders, if not the very thought.

"It would seem we have a pair of spies in our company Sire," said the guard as he brandished Pan by her axe, which happened to be strapped to her back, since it seemed to be the most convenient handle.

Pan let herself hang there by way of the Trentore's grip, still a bit stunned, but she also thought it better to let them think she couldn't fly... at least, for now.

Trunks remained frozen with apprehension. He desperately wanted to attack, but he had seen the unspoken threat on the guard's face as he held some sort of jagged weapon in his free hand. Trunks knew he could probably be fast enough to disarm Pan's captor, but the risk involved was too great, he'd need to wait for a safer opening.

"Spies?!" the prince hissed. "How did they get past the Ralerphere guards?" He then turned to a Trentore closest to him; most likely the Prince's adviser. "Are they good for nothing but front line fodder?!"

The adviser said nothing but motioned his forearm, bringing forth one of the largest Trentore. The large one stepped forward as summoned, presumably the Captain of all the guards present, Trunks assumed. "I will handle this Sire. The Ralerphere shall double their efforts regarding security. In the meantime what would you have us do with... the spies?" the supposed Captain asked as Pan's captor forced Trunks into the open with a rather forceful shove.

The prince regarded both of them with a mixture of disgust and indifference as he made a waving motion. "I don't care, just get them far away from me."

The guard keeping the Saiyans at bay grinned. "May I take them then Captain?"

The giant one nodded soberly in answer and ordered for more guards to accompany him. The chosen two came forward, they were both a light gray color, making Pan think of them as twins. She almost laughed at the mess they had gotten themselves into.

As the two added guards drew to either side and trailed behind, Pan and Trunks shared a glance, Trunks nodded encouragingly and Pan remained calm because of it. Even as her captor pushed and shoved Trunks to walk ahead, almost prodding him with the roughly-edged blade a couple times, albeit it took a lot of her self control not to jab her elbow into the guard's nose at that point.

Pan's patience was waning; they were heading back the way they came! She wasn't an expert on infiltration missions, but wasn't this a step backward? She stifled a growl of frustration, Trunks must have a plan of some kind; she would just need to wait for it.

As it was, she didn't mind being carried, it was, in a small way, helping to conserve energy for when they needed to launch the attack. This tactic, however, was promptly done away with when they entered the clearing that they had passed shortly before they had stumbled upon the prince.

The guard had grown tired of lugging her around. With a bit of jostling the guard had succeeded in removing her axe and ultimately dropped her. He expecting her to land on her rump with a thud, but to his surprise Pan landed neatly on her feet and glaring up at him with a growl, a fist in the air as she waved it around at him menacingly. "Hey! Give that back you big oaf!"

The guard scowled down at her, slamming the large weapon's blunt staff on the ground, only a matter of inches away from her feet. "Take it then!" he roared, somewhere between his scowl and outburst his face had lowered to hers in a challenge.

Pan matched his scowl, oh how she _wanted_ to take it, but when Trunks placed a hand on her shoulder she willed herself to be calm... All in due time Pan, all in due time. _"Remember your meditation,"_ she could almost hear Trunks couching her. Pan smirked; Perhaps not_all_ the time spent in Slaves Arena was a complete loss.

"I didn't think so." The guard stood with a grunt, unimpressed as he heaved the heavy weapon over his shoulder and sheathed his jagged blade, leaving him armed with only the massive axe.

Trunks smirked at the switch and sent Pan another look of encouragement; that axe would slow him down somewhat. "For that, you'll go first," the guard hissed and shoved Pan forward. She hardly stumbled but Trunks steadied her anyway with his hand still steady on her shoulder. He scrutinizing the guard before starting in the direction he herded them. Whatever the guard had planned, Trunks knew it couldn't be a good thing, but the situation had been improved, now Pan was closer to him and escape could almost be won without any serious injuries. Still, the guard was very wary and the axe was constantly at the ready.

Trunks was soon relieved of his own weapon and given to one of the other guards as the group had continued onward.

"Don't you find it odd that the Captain did not order us to interrogate them?" asked one of the twin Trentore to the other as they followed behind.

The other looked up thoughtfully. "Aye, but perhaps since they are off-planet, the Captain may have thought anything they tell us would be a lie no matter what, since they most likely have no clue about-" his words trailed off as Pan and Trunks tried to listen but with their unfriendly captor trailing behind them, grumbling and prodding them every few seconds it was a bit hard to concentrate on anything.

"Wait for my signal," Trunks whispered to her as they now both walked side by side.

"Hey there, quiet, no conspiring allowed," the guard growled and poked both of them for good measure, his sour temperament had not changed in the least.

Trunks sent the guard another glare over his shoulder but kept walking nonetheless; Oh this guy was definitely on his list. Trunks assumed Pan had it in for the guard as well, since he had confiscated her axe, and from what Trunks gathered, she had grown quite fond of the _"weapon of mass destruction."_

Trunks sent her a curious side glance to find that Pan wasn't paying the threats any mind, rather she was examining their surroundings as they marched through a much more fortified part of the base. Trunks smirked; Pan was being smart about things for once, instead of letting every little setback eat away at her, she tried to make the best of the situation.

When they approached a large pit dug out in the ground the guard halted his movements and pushed Pan harshly towards the opening and both Saiyans glared, but Pan continued to where she had been roughly guided. A large number of Ralerphere loitered all around, some slept, others watched with interest, while even others stepped forward to converse with the guard and the other two gray Trentore with hisses and yips.

The Trentore did not reply to the other species with the normal tongue, rather they likewise growled and made short clicking noises with their throats to commune with them. Much to Trunks' dismay, he had been hoping to gain some insight on what Pan was about to face. Though after a moment of observation, Trunks knew that what Pan now stood in, was an arena of sorts; they were about to be pitted against multiple Ralerphere. For entertainment, he assumed.

Trunks quickly assessed the situation with a glance from Pan to the guards, as it was now, Pan was still alone in the pit, and as safe as she was going to get. All three guards were busy talking to the Ralerphere lizards. Trunks considered his own safety hardly an issue at the moment. He stepped and faded to the guard's left and promptly removed him of the huge axe with a well aimed strike to the shoulder. The guard was so distracted that the pain and numbness in his arm was a shock to him and he only just now noticed his missing prisoner.

With a roar, the guard went to retrieve the weapon with his good forelimb but Trunks was faster and had already tossed the heavy thing to Pan, after warning her of course, whom caught it with much satisfaction as she landed somewhere between the small arena and Trunks, backing up to him when all the present Ralerphere closed in for the attack; things were about to get messy. "Hey Trunks, don't kill the guard, I want to... shove him around a little when we're done," Pan said, smirking as she slammed her axe on the ground and prepared for a wide swing.

Trunks frowned. "Aww, you ruin all my fun Pan," he replied in a pout but quickly cringed at the sight of her stance and he cautiously moved away; that axe in Pan's hands with that particular stance did nothing for his nerves. But he didn't have time to chastise her, the Trentore guards and a handful of Ralerphere were upon him.

"Move it Trunks!" Pan ordered, spinning the staff of her axe and bringing the swing to a complete circle. Trunks obeyed, taking to the air as the metal swept just below his feet.

Pan's assault did a number on the enemy's approaching units, many were thrust back by the mere force of the swing, while the closer ones, unlucky as they were, took a direct hit, ending their resistance permanently. One of the Trentore, however, smashed his fist on the flat of the blade, sending it to bite the earth, but not to be dismayed Pan followed up with her previous attack's momentum and landed a lethal kicked to the Trentore's chest, sending him sprawling on his back; he would be down for awhile.

Pan landed on one leg for a mere second as another enemy came from the side, it was swiftly done away with as she brought her reserved leg into a roundhouse kick, meeting all to friendly with the lizard's jaw. With a crack and a thud it was down.

"Or lose it?" Trunks finished for her as he landed beside her, his voice a mere squeak of mortification at what she had nearly done, had he not moved out of the way.

More Ralerphere grouped towards them, and the two remaining Trentore had already flanked around them; they were surrounded. Pan gripped her weapon and unearthed it from the ground and readied herself. "Sorry," she said, giving him a sheepish grin. "Anyway, who do you want, the overgrown twins or the lizards?"

Trunks didn't reply, instead, he met the Trentore that had possession of his sword. First things first, after all, One must have his priorities in order.

---

"Yep, that looks like Pan-Chan's handy work alright," said Goten, amusement in his voice as he observed the only settlement on the planet, the mass of a building appeared to be smoldering.

Both Capsule Corp. ships drifted motionless in space, just out of reach of the planet's atmosphere, as their passengers conversed over the communicator. "This was the last known location that the ship's signal sent out," Bulma said, her face taut with seriousness on the screen as she ignored Goten's comment. "It's unlikely that they're still here, but you two should go investigate anyway, Bra and I will wait here while I try and locate the next closest planet."

Goten whined back, his hands on the screen as he contemplated shaking it to ease his own anxiety. "You're kidding me right? I don't want to go down there, it looks like burnt noodles!"

Bulma was no longer visible and was replaced with Bra's strict face. "Stop being silly Goten, my dad's going with you and you're just checking to see if Pan and Trunks are there or not."

Goten sighed and sat down on the floor, his chin set against his fist in a pout as he nonchalantly waved his other hand to Vegeta. "Fine, fine, lets go then."

After telling the ship to land Vegeta scoffed and once again, grabbed Goten by the collar of his shirt and proceeded to drag him to the loading dock. Goten didn't even shift out of his pout; this was starting to turn into a routine for them.

---

"Come on Pan, we gotta move! More guards will be coming!" Trunks called to her urgently after disposing of the third Trentore, rendering him unconscious.

Pan spared him a glance but could not let herself be distracted more then that, unless of course she wanted to be poisoned, she shook her head stubbornly, getting poisoned again? Definitely not an option. But their mission was not to exterminate everything at the base, even though they had the upper hand in the fighting, more soldiers kept coming, Trunks was right, pretty soon it wouldn't be just the lizard soldiers, no, pretty soon they would be forced to fight the bigger ones, the ones with wings and a bad attitude.

She jerked her axe into motion once more and made another wide sweep in order to buy herself some room enough to take to the air and out of the enemy's range.

Trunks smirked when Pan landed near him. "Done playing around Pan?" he joked, sheathing his sword before turning toward the way they came and back to the large building that housed the prince, leading the way at a run; the Ralerphere engaged after them but weren't nearly fast enough to catch them.

Pan glared her annoyance but said nothing in return as she imitated, fitting her axe into its belt on her back and following at the same speed. Soon enough they were flying down the building's corridors, and, as they made their way back to the prince's chamber Pan looked around, searching for something that had been missing for awhile now, but she had only just now noticed that it was missing. "Hey Trunks, where's Giru?"

Trunks turned his head, considering her question for a second, then shook his head. "I don't know, we must have lost him along the way somewhere, he's probably just hiding though."

Pan nodded, hopeful for the little robot, and followed suit when Trunks landed soundlessly and made a shushing gesture to her as they were now very close to their destination, and getting captured again was simply not an option this time.

They clung to the wall as Trunks poked his head out to take a look around the corner. The closest Trentore was ten feet away at the most, and the prince was farther away, meaning they would need to disable his guards before they could grab him. Trunks counted six Trentore in the chamber not counting the prince, though remembering what had happened last time, just because he couldn't see more than six didn't mean there wasn't hidden guards posted nearby.

Trunks returned to standing beside Pan, thinking. Pan watched him curiously among the flickering torchlight, she dared not say anything though, even a whisper would be a risk to blowing their cover at this point.

Trunks took a deep silent breath to calm his nerves. This time they couldn't mess it up, Troh-Rok was counting on them to be back soon, with the prince, no less.

He gave Pan the instruction to his plan, what he couldn't gesture to her with his hands he mouthed the words, and simply hoped that she understood and followed his lead.

Trunks was about to tear around the corner and commence the ambush but that just so happened to be when he heard a bunch of clamoring and shuffling on the other side of the chamber, where the other entrance was, he noted, after once again looking around the corner. He watched as all but one Trentore herded over to the opposite entrance at the command of the Captain.

This was the perfect timing to strike, while they were distracted! Trunks motioned to Pan and they both sped around the corner and before the one remaining guard knew what was taking place, he was knocked unconscious and he fell forward to the floor with a loud crash.

The rest of the guards, as well as a screeching prince, immediately turned to the noise, and much to their dismay, noticed that there was no longer anyone between the intruders and their prince.

Before the prince, or any of his attendants for that matter, could blink Trunks and Pan were upon him and with the slightest blow to the head, Trunks had sent the young Trentore to dream land while Pan jumped, spun and kicked one of the guards across the jaw and conveniently sent him flying into the others, creating a domino effect, seeing as there wasn't a lot of room to move around in such close quarters, the large Trentore were set at a disadvantage.

The pair was about to take advantage of the situation and escape with the prince in hand, but the reason for the original distraction finally took this moment to make itself known. "Pan don't leave Giru! Giru...Giru."

Pan's eyes bolted to the robot, he was on the other side of the recovering Trentore she had just knocked down. He must have made a noise earlier to make the guards investigate, ultimately coming up with the perfect distraction. "Giru! What are you doing? Get over here!" she growled to him urgently.

Trunks had already started down the corridor, the Trentore prince slung over his back, when Pan's assistance went slack. "Pan, forget it, he'll catch up later!" he told her, his voice pleading.

But by then Pan wasn't listening and her common sense seemed to have been lost to her as she recklessly ran headlong into the thick of the big creatures with the single intent of retrieving the tiny robot.

---

AN: Haha! How many people did I fool with the first sentence? Come on, fess up, I had you scared and you know it. Anyway, on a side note, I hope the time frame in this chapter seemed sane enough to everyone, see I figured since Pan and Trunks only spent one night in their ship before being raided by the space pirates, then Bulma and... party would arrive at Slaves Arena within the timespan of a day at least...seeing as how her newer models are faster.:P


	33. Regrouping

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one in DBGT.**

AN: I could roll out the excuses for the delay of this chapter, but I'd rather not bore you, so I apologize for the delay, and I hope you enjoy the read.^-^

**Chapter Thirty Three – Regrouping**

Trunks had already started down the corridor, the Trentore prince slung over his back, when Pan's assistance went slack. "Pan, forget it, he'll catch up later!" he told her, his voice pleading.

But by then Pan wasn't listening and her common sense seemed to have been lost to her as she recklessly ran headlong into the thick of the big creatures with the single intent of retrieving the tiny robot.

Trunks snarled out his frustration, though it later occurred to him as a waste of energy. He took off without her, knowing the enemy was focused now on recovering their prince and that they had little incentive now to go after her. After shifting into his golden form, Trunks wasted no time in phasing to level two. At that point, lugging the prince was no trouble at all compared to carrying Kezz previously.

Once he reached the outside, he waited high in the air for a moment, the prince still hung limp and unconscious by Trunks' grasp. The prince's guards soon emerged from the complex, and mere seconds later Pan did as well, Giru hanging by her shoulder. All the Trentore guards howled their frustration and confusion as Pan flew up to meet her partner of infiltration. "Found him," she announced happily.

"Yeah, that's great Pan, but it looks like we have a major problem headed our way thanks to that delay," Trunks said as he made a gesture to the arguing Trentore below. Two dragons had just arrived nearby and were apparently getting their orders to retrieve the prince.

Their scaled wings seemed to unlatch from their dormant positions as they looked up to their prey, snarls and hissing erupted from their throats and they soon began beating their wings to take flight.

"Let's get the heck out of here then!" Pan shouted among Giru's sudden stuttering and bleeping. She took off with a burst of energy and Trunks followed soon after, his second level sparking and pulsing over his body.

As the dragons took up their pursuit, it wasn't hard to see that the speed their wings accomplished were hardly any match for Pan or Trunks.

Even so, as Trunks continued to accelerate, Pan in turn continued to fall behind. "Come on Pan, fly faster, every minute we're gone another Trentore dies!"

"I know, but I'm spent, even if I transform, it won't last very long," she called back, over the roaring wind. "Maybe you should go ahead of me, I'll catch up."

"No you won't," Trunks said, more as an order rather than a prediction. He slowed and drew alongside her and slid the Trentore prince from his shoulder to the way he had formerly carried Kezz before. "Grab onto me and don't let go."

Pan nodded and grinned as she obeyed and wrapped both arms around his neck. "Wow, look at that, a first class taxi. How much do you charge mister?"

Now with two passengers, Trunks could feel his energy would be depleted as well, but now they would travel at a much faster pace until then. "A lot. But I'll just put it on your tab," he replied with a smirk before spiking his energy and leaving the dragons to trail after them.

--

Breathing heavily with open wounds and scrapes alike mingled with old scars on his body, Kezz stood still for a moment and overlooked the chaotic battlefield. Things were becoming hopeless, and his troops were swiftly losing morale. The same troops he had just recently gained authority over. "Regroup!" he bellowed, his voice was worn and ragged, but the order was heard regardless. "To me, Brothers!"

As the last remnant of Trentore soldiers rallied to their new leader, they formed one final defensive circle of no more than twenty. The enemy closed in on them, of which included a large number traitorous fellow Trentore among the countless Ralerphere soldiers.

Kezz could sense the tension in his troops now, some were shaking out of exhaustion, others were shaking out of fear. In the hopes of building their courage, Kezz slammed his weapon into the ground and gave a mighty roar. "For the General!"

He was surprised, though at the same time relieved when all of his troops roared back in agreement, now ready to fight to the death. But even in that instant, when more bloodshed was mere seconds away, a flash of light followed by a wave of energy and wind blew a cloud of blinding dust everywhere nearby. Bringing to a halt, the immanent clash as both friend and foe alike was forced to cover their eyes.

"Geez Trunks, are you ok?" came Pan's voice through the thick fog of dust from somewhere inside the Trentore's perimeter.

Trunks coughed as the dusty cloud slowly dissipated, he was kneeling on one leg, his golden form lacking, his energy gone. The flight had taken it out of him, and he felt ready to collapse. "Heh, that was some landing eh Pan?" Yet he still somehow managed to chuckle.

"Yeah, we should patten crash landing since we're so good at living through them," Pan replied with a laugh as she ducked under his arm and proceeded in helping him stand. But upon seeing their captive and the surroundings they had just found themselves in, she frowned. "Uh-oh, looks like our landing woke up the passenger."

Kezz had been so dumbstruck by their arrival that it left him speechless, the same went for his troops as they were simply struggling to recover from the settling dust. "Pan! Trunks! You've returned!" he greeted thankfully as he now noticed the prince lying nearby, and he was beginning to stir. "And you were successful at that!"

"Yeah, but we're exhausted. We're not good for much at this point," Pan admitted despondently, shifting Trunks' weight on her shoulders.

As the enemy force was beginning to regroup, Kezz gripped his spear from the ground and quickly grabbed the young prince by the neck. "You've done enough, I shall handle the rest." With his weapon in one hand and a prince in the other, he approached the front lines of both forces, the spear's blade aimed at the heir's throat threateningly. "Order them to retreat," he demanded the prince with a snarl. "Or else they will have little incentive to fight and you will have one less breath to live on." His words were crisp and full of anger as he shook the prince roughly, attempting to wake him further.

"Wha-What?! Where am I? Where are my guards!?" the Trentore prince screamed and bucked, but that only seemed to make Kezz grip him harder.

"I will not repeat myself again," Kezz growled angrily as he pressed the blade to the heir's throat, any added pressure would have caused an incision. "_Now!_ Order them to retreat!" he barked with a resonating chill and with an intensity unlike anything he had ever displayed.

Like the coward he was, the prince complied and ordered the commanding officer of the attacking force to pull back. And he did, resulting in the prince's Trentore army to retreat from the battle. However, the Ralerphere army remained where they were. And after seeing that, Kezz snarled and roughly threw the prince to the ground. "What's going on, why aren't they falling back!?"

The prince looked around, his eyes darting about wildly. "I-I don't know! Th-the treaty should still be in effect, they should be listening to me!"

By now, the Ralerphere soldiers, snakes, lizards, and dragons, all of them began hissing, and as the hissing grew louder, they even began howling in a high pitched screech. A screech that unnerved their enemies and sent chills down Pan's spine. With a worried glance to Trunks it was obvious that he hadn't appreciated the noise much either.

The disturbing clamor continued without letup and once the handful of dragon generals took their places at the fore of the entire Ralerphere army, they roared what sounded like a battle cry; the order to attack.

And that's exactly what they did, among snarls and hissing the lizard men charged with their weapons held high and their maws dripping with poison, eager to bite into their prey.

"Blast!" Kezz cursed, snatched the prince, and roughly threw him at the closest Trentore soldier. "Protect the treasonous whelp as long as you can, and retreat to the city, the rest of you are with me," he ordered the troops, his eyes scanning over them quickly.

When the forces were once again about to clash, and things looked as bleak as ever, Trunks and Pan both felt a twinge of energy, and the entire front lines of the Ralerphere army started exploding. This caused more than just damage to their numbers, as they were all at a full charge, they began tripping and slamming into the corpses of the front lines, and thus confusion and dissension broke out in the ranks and they began quarreling and even fighting each other. The dragons had no power over them now.

"What was that?" Pan wondered aloud, just as another wave of destruction swept the enemy army. She quickly looked to Trunks; he was smirking. "That's not who I think it is... Is it?"

"Yeah, it is actually," came a voice nearby.

"Goten!" Pan beamed when she seen him hovering there. "Where the heck did you come from?"

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know?" Goten gave a sideways grin and winked at her before regarding his best friend smugly. "Yo Trunks, your dad sure cleans up, doesn't he?"

Trunks merely returned the look with a shrug. "Yeah, but he must have had all that energy pent up for awhile if he went and released it all at once like that." He let himself relax somewhat, since the enemy was in no way a threat in their current state. His strength was returning gradually now, and he managed to stand on his own, without Pan's assistance.

"Kezz." Pan turned to the said Trentore, who at the moment continued to look on in amazement at the display of such raw power. The lizards were now retreating in a panic, at least, the ones that weren't engaged in squabbling with each other were running away with whatever sense they had remaining. "Don't worry, these are our friends, er I mean family. We can relax now."

With that, Kezz breathed out a large sigh of relief as he faced the human-Saiyans. "My friends, you are by far the best thing that has every happened to this planet. I truly believe, that because of you, this war has ended well. When I say this, I speak for me, and all of my brothers: We are _forever _in your debt."

--

"So when we reached the planet, Vegeta immediately sensed your energy signature, and that's how we found you," Bulma explained over dinner that night. The rescue team consisting of her, Bra, Goten, and Vegeta, and they had all gathered in the city with Pan and Trunks, as the victory celebrations would be nothing without their heroes present.

"I can't believe you two put us through all this, we were all really worried about you!" Bra complained, and shoved her brother lightly, for no other reason except that she was sitting next to him, with Pan on his other side.

"Well I'm _sorry_ Sis, but you know, we hadn't really _planned_ on running into space pirates like that," Trunks replied, pushing her back in return, albeit much softer.

Goten was stuffing his face as usual, so he didn't have much at all to contribute to the conversation. Nor did Vegeta for that matter, but that wasn't anything new either.

It wasn't until Ledgic invited himself to the table without a greeting or even a glance of acknowledgment that the group became completely silent. Even Goten froze in the middle of scooping some sort of soupy substance into his mouth. The silence didn't last long though, not if Pan had anything to do with it. "And just _where_ have _you_ been all this time?" she asked incredulously.

"Here," he answered plainly. "I got bored of the enemies; they were too weak."

"_What!?_" Pan hissed, standing abruptly, her fists at her sides in aggravation. "We were out there fighting for our lives, and you were in the city,_ relaxing_!?"

With an exasperated sigh, Trunks grabbed one of Pan's arms and pulled her back to sit again. "Forget it Pan, the war's over, let's not start another one ok?"

"But Trunks! He was-" Pan started and made rapid gestures with her hands, but Trunks merely shook his head. "But we-" Another shake. "But-" And another. "Ghar!" she nearly snarled in irritation as she raked her hands through and around her hair, her tail switching behind her madly.

A grunt and a comment from Vegeta next caught her attention. "It looks like you've finally found your place, Brat." The instant he finished his sentence, everyone at the table except Ledgic cringed, Goten involuntarily swallowed the food in his mouth, whether it had been chewed or not didn't seem to matter.

As everyone had predicted, Pan shot up from her sitting position, once more provoked. "_What_ did you just say!?"

Another sigh from Trunks, followed by him tugging Pan once again back to her seat. "Let it go Pan, he's just looking to pick a fight."

"Well he's got one, right now!" she growled, indignant. "I'm not gonna take that!"

Trunks gave her an odd look, it was almost patronizing, but strangely, it was like something else Pan couldn't place. "Come on Pan, after all we've been through lately, can't you show a little more self-control than him?"

Pan aimed a pointed finger at him, as though she were about to roll out a number of threats if he tried stopping her again, only to be cut short by the fighter that had started the whole argument.

"That was some impressive firepower out there. You seem like a worthy opponent," Ledgic observed in a low monotone, his attention directed to the only full blooded Saiyan present. "Have you ever faced that child in combat?"

"What _child_?" Vegeta growled, his mood always on an edge.

"I think he means Goku, Dad," Trunks answered and rolled his eyes when his father stood with a familiar fervency whenever his nemesis was mentioned. _"Here we go."_

"Kakarot!? What does he have to do with anything? Of course I've fought him!"

As the two continued discussing their history with Goku, and later left the city to spar, the others continued with feast and the celebrations.

The war on the planet Trentore had ended, Trunks and Pan had been reunited with their families, and according to Bulma, they were all heading home the next day.

The only problem was, Pan didn't want to go home yet.

--

AN: Sorry if this seemed rushed or if it didn't run together very smoothly, I really forced this chapter out, so it wasn't my best work to say the least. But if it makes you happier to know, I already have the next chapter written, but I'm demanding at least 5 reviews before I upload it. So if you want it, you gotta review for it.^^ I know, I'm as evil as they come.


	34. Final Request

**Dragon Ball-GT - Pan's Innocence**

**Disclaimer: If it's not in my pocket, I don't own it.**

AN: Would you believe I actually wrote this chapter _before_ I wrote chapter Thirty Three? Yeah, I know, strange, but it was the only way I could break through my writers block. So yeah, I hope there's no mistakes or plot holes here, I haven't written this story for a long time, so I might have forgotten a few things here and there.

**Chapter Thirty Four – Final Request**

Inside the cockpit of one of the C.C. ships, Bulma tapped away at the keys on the terminal, and at the same time, discussed with Trunks about installing an energy shield on the ships, in hopes of preventing another pirate attack.

Elsewhere though, among the emptiness of the wasteland just outside the city, Pan sat on the ground, sighing and apparently dazed as she stared at nothing in particular. Meanwhile, a force of Trentore worked all around her, cleaning up the area of corpses where the bloody battle had been fought.

Throughout the entire celebration the night before, she hadn't once noticed that Troh-Rok was missing. It wasn't until the morning that she noticed Kezz helping to bury the troops that had given their lives for the war. It was then, with a grave face, that he broke the news to her; the mighty General had died.

Pan felt fine though, there was nothing wrong with her physically. The war had been won, Bulma and the others had managed to find them. Everything had worked itself out just great. But the sudden loss of a new friend was taking it's toll, and she guessed she was feeling something of depression, or perhaps she was just mourning him. Mainly, she was feeling guilty, because she hadn't noticed he was gone until now.

Whatever it was, she didn't feel like moving, or talking even. It was as though either function would require too much energy or effort.

This was something Bra was beginning to discover as she had been sitting next to her friend for a few minutes now. Bra tried to get Pan to talk by inquiring about everything that had happened up till now. But Pan wouldn't respond, she would merely look to her blue haired friend, almost teary eyed, and then turn away without a word.

After reaching the conclusion that she wasn't about to get Pan to open up, Bra headed back to the two ships, frowning. Her only answer to the problem was informing Trunks and their mother. Seeing as their father certainly wasn't around to do anything, he was off in no man's land training with Ledgic.

Bra scowled as she stepped up the ramp to the ship, Goten was just as useless. He was in town, stuffing his face with any food this planet had to offer. _Useless_, all of them useless. In fact, the only man around that wasn't an entire failure was in the cockpit that she had just entered. "Hey Trunks," Bra called, her voice bordering concerned.

Trunks turned his head from the terminal to regard his sister, his mind still focused on the formula on the screen. "What is it Sis? Is there a problem?"

"Well," Bra hesitated, wondering to herself if her concerns were even worth mentioning if it meant interrupting their work. "It's about Pan..."

Trunks stood upright, giving his sister his full attention, his work instantly discarded. "What's wrong with Pan?" Bulma even turned in her seat at that.

"N-nothing!" Bra blurted suddenly, knowing she had just caused a worry that she had meant to avoid. "I-I mean, I'm not sure." She sighed, deciding to just speak her mind. "She won't talk to me, she seems really out of it, you know?"

Trunks shared a look with his mother, most likely some sort of coded message passing between them. He nodded. "I'll go check on her."

Bulma nodded back and made a shooing motion to her son, returning to her work in an instant. "It's probably just PMS," she muttered offhandedly.

Trunks simply chuckled on his way out. "No, that was last week."

It was Bra's turn to share an odd look with her mother, the both of them bewildered for a moment before breaking out into explosive laughter.

As Trunks left the ship, he stood outside and looked about his surroundings, he could see that a countless number of Trentore were scattered around all over the former battle field, working and lifting dead Ralerphere. It took him a few seconds to locate the girl he had traveled all this way with. But there she was, sitting there, looking off into nothingness. Trunks shook his head, hands on hips as he sighed before approaching her.

"Hey Pan, what's wrong?" he asked aloud, but he really didn't need to, she knew he was there, she sensed him, heard him, _felt_ him when he sat down beside her, his leg brushing hers. Still, she didn't respond, but merely sighed in a way Trunks couldn't exactly decipher. Whether it was a sign of sadness, exhaustion, or hopelessness, he couldn't be sure; either the answer didn't fit to her expression, or it didn't fit the situation. And without her assistance in the matter, it really was something like a puzzle for him to piece together. "Bra said you were feeling down. Are you feeling alright?"

He tipped his head to the side, attentively waiting for an answer as he placed a hand on her forehead. He couldn't help but smirk a second later when she swatted his hand away and replied with her trademark temper. "I feel just fine!"

"Ok, ok!" the half-Saiyan replied, his hands up defensively, dropping them only when Pan turned away again. "Are you gonna tell me what's bothering you then?"

Moments more elapsed and he still hadn't received an answer, but upon close examination of her features, Trunks thought to give her some time. She seemed solemn, and determined to find the right words before opening up to him.

When Pan finally looked as though she were about to say something, two Trentore workers passed by, ignoring the two human-Saiyans as they went hauling even more corpses to be added to the burn pile. "I thought the fighting was over, what's all that about?" one Trentore asked the other as he indicated countless flashes and sonic booms in the distance. The source of the commotion no doubt the effect of Vegeta and Ledgic's training.

"Who knows," replied the other Trentore. "Probably just outsiders conducting tests or something."

"Hmm, more like a couple of ego's that never take a day off," Trunks muttered, referring to his father and a certain fighter whose thirst for battle was never quenched.

"What are we doing?" Pan asked, completely neglecting to acknowledge the scene.

"Huh?" Obviously distracted by the interruption, Trunks blinked a few times, oblivious concerning what she had just said. "What do you mean? We're sitting together in the middle of a planet that we just saved."

"No," Pan said, eyebrows furrowed in mild frustration. "I mean, we're going home after this... aren't we?"

Trunks found himself blinking in bewilderment again. Why was she asking that like they had just went on vacation and the time had finally come to go home? For Pete's sake they had nearly died a number of times! Wasn't she _ready_ to go home... like he was? "You don't... want to go home?"

Pan shook her head in answer. "We never finished what we set out for... I never got to make my wish."

Trunks sighed and massaged his forehead tiredly. "Well, mother did bring two ships just in case. So I guess we could keep going if you want- ugh!"

He hadn't even finished his sentence when Pan hugged and-or tackled him. "Yay! I was so sure you would say no."

Surprising, the force of it didn't knock him over and he returned the embrace. The moment hadn't lasted very long, when a slow thunder was heard from behind, they both turned to see Kezz approaching.

"Don't mean to hinder the courtship," Kezz coughed awkwardly and the couple in turn blushed. "But I have something important to discuss with you both."

After collecting themselves, Pan and Trunks stood to meet their friend, both chuckling nervously their apologies. "What is it Kezz?" Pan asked.

Kezz sighed deeply, his voice was ragged and worn as he explained; the role of leader suddenly being dropped on him was obviously taking its toll on him. "As a part of the former General's dying wish, he asked me to appoint the both of you an important responsibility." He paused, hesitant for reasons only he knew. "You should know, under any other circumstances I would have taken this responsibility on myself, but as a dying wish, this sort of thing must be carried out to the letter."

Now Pan and Trunks were becoming anxious. They glanced to each other, then back to Kezz, eyebrows furrowed with concern. "Kezz? What's wrong?"

Another sigh and Kezz looked as though he had decided to just get the situation over with. He made a gesture with a forepaw and it wasn't until now that Pan and Trunks noticed another Trentore, a nurse had accompanied Kezz from behind. And there was a bundle in her arms as she came forward.

"This is Troh-Rok's son," Kezz explained as the Trentore nurse handed the bundled baby Trentore over to Pan, as she had already been curious of the small creature. After that, Kezz dismissed the nurse and she took her leave as told, and that's when Trunks began to get nervous. "And he has entrusted the child to you both," Kezz finished, and that's when Trunks panicked.

"_What!?_" Trunks howled, his mind scrambled and his pulse hastened. "We can't take care of _him_!"

"Sure we can, look how small he is," Pan observed, making a cooing noise as the baby began sucking on her finger.

"Look how big he _gets_!" Trunks yelled, making an obvious gesture to Kezz as a perfect example of size.

"Aw, come on Trunks, just hold him once and you'll want to keep him too," Pan stated and offered the young Trentore to him.

"No, I'm not holding him, and we're _not_ keeping him! Now give him back Pan!"

"No," Pan replied stubbornly and held the baby closer.

Trunks growled in frustration and how unreasonable she could get when she wanted something. "Pan, this isn't like a puppy. He's going to get huge, and he'll be as smart as Kezz!"

"Hmm, amusing," Kezz chuckled as he had sat back to watch the entire exchange.

Trunks threw his hands out, making a number of panicked gestures. "There's nothing amusing about this! Kezz, do something, be practical about this!"

"There's nothing I can do, this was a dying wish, it _must_ be upheld under any circumstances," Kezz told them and gave his head a tilt. "Besides, as I see it, Pan-Son has already become attached. She makes a good mother." Kezz smiled, nodding his head as Pan replied with a grin.

Trunks smacked his forehead in frustration. Wonderful, encouraging Pan was like watering weeds, the bigger they got the bigger the problems. "I just, I don't think Pan is ready for this."

Kezz sighed once more, his face turning serious and sober before speaking. "Trunks, you need to see this as more than just a last request. This was a gift from Troh-Rok. In this way, he was hoping to teach you both something. Giving up your child is by far the highest honor and sacrifice on our planet, and I should think that it would be the highest honor and sacrifice in the _universe_."

For a long moment neither of them said anything and all that could be heard was the baby Trentore's squeaking in Pan's arms. "I guess you're right," Trunks admitted in a bit of a sulk as he shifted his feet and turned to her. "Pan, if this is really what you want, then I won't stop you. But he's _you're_ responsibility, I'll only help you."

Pan nodded her head with a smile; she had gotten her way _again_. "Well then," Kezz said. "I suppose I should brief you on Trentorian parenthood."

Pan heard his words, but at this point she wasn't listening. Now she was so fixated on the creature in her arms that so resembled a puppy, as his horns hadn't yet started growing, and his teeth were no bigger than pebbles. His eyes were like that of the smallest yellow marbles she had ever seen.

"His name is Arai-Koe, but I'm told that the nurses just call him Rai," Kezz paused for a moment to be sure Pan had heard him before continuing. "As a Trentore, he will eat anything, even at his age, if you break the food into pieces he will eat it. Also, the physical growing process of a Trentore is rather slow, however, the mental process grows very rapidly... In fact, he may start to understand your words within the week, although his speech won't come for a few months yet."

Pan blinked blankly up at her large friend, to say the least the information went right over her head. "Are you gonna remember all that Trunks?"

"...Yeah, why?" Trunks questioned hesitantly, his arms crossed in something of a sulk.

"Because I won't," Pan answered simply, her attention instantly snapping back to Arai-Koe, when he whined for attention. "You are so _cute_!"

Trunks sighed in defeat, slowly applying a hand to his head in embarrassment. "That's Pan and baby animals for you."

--

"I can't believe we're actually saying goodbye Kezz," Pan cried, hugging one of the large beast's forelegs. "You're like a really big uncle to me."

Kezz smiled warmly down at her. "Aye, I've grown very attached to you as well Small one, but I'll see you again. Rai will want to come home to his own kind when he gets older. You'll need to bring him here when that time comes."

Pan nodded as the ships fired up behind her. It was time to leave, and her new friends were seeing her off. She moved from Kezz to Pheonere, a little white robot was perched on the Blainfirr's back. Teary eyed, Pan still found it in her to smile and shake her head amusedly. "You two really hit it off didn't you?"

"Big cat Giru's friend! Giru, Giru."

Pheonere smirked and bucked the robot off of him. "Get out of here, you talking tin can." As Giru hovered off into the ship, Pheonere regarded Pan sadly, an expression foreign to his features. "I hope I'm still here when you come back. I want to see you guys again."

Pan tried to force a smile, but she couldn't help the tears from running. With a cry, she hugged the fire-lion around the neck, and he complied in an attempt to hug her back with one forepaw. "You're gonna be the leader of everyone Phay, you just watch."

They both laughed and Pan wiped her eyes. "And I bet you think I'll actually master fire by then too."

"Yep!" Pan exclaimed, she closed her eyes and offered a wide grin. "I know you will, so you better train hard!"

As soon as Trunks had said his goodbyes to the duo, both him and Pan looked at each and then all around the area for one last companion that was nowhere in sight. "Hey, where's Ledgic?" Pan wondered aloud.

"Oh, he left awhile ago on the alien spaceship, said he didn't care for sappy scenes like this," Kezz supplied, almost disgusted. "To think, after all we've been through together, and he doesn't even bother to say a proper farewell."

"Oh well, that's Ledgic for you, he's a lot like my dad, so it's no skin off my back," Trunks said, waving the thought of the fighter away like the wind.

"Trunks, Pan, it's time to go!" Bulma called from one of the ships.

"Alright, we're coming mom," Trunks called and waved a final farewell as Pan stole one more hug from both of her new friends before running to catch up to him.

And as she stood on the ship's threshold to take one last look behind, Pan could only hope that these dear friends would still be here when she returned.

--

AN: Yes, I did plan on adding Arai-Koe(Violent-Voice in Japanese) to the story, he was actually made up as I went along, but I have a scene planned out that I think everyone is going to like. I really need to draw him so you all know what he looks like. I'll try to get a pic of him uploaded on DeviantART asap. In the meantime please review, if I don't get reviews I start to think no one likes my story and then I get depressed and lose interest.


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